A Green Fall
by BizzyLizy
Summary: "So, you're telling me that there're black eggs that come from people's hearts, and they try to attack everything, and there're mini people that will float around me and completely change who I am?" "Pretty much." "And you want me to transform into this... Pink sparkly thing... to shoot beams out of my hands and purify the egg things." "Yep." "You're all insane."
1. Goodbye, Peaceful Life

**[A/n]: Hey there! Thanks for clicking on that link to read the story! It will be a bit cliche in the very beginning, but bear with me, it'll get better (hopefully) :)**

 **Enjoy the story!**

 _Chapter one_

 _Goodbye, Peaceful Life_

 _XXX_

 _All kids hold an egg in their soul, the egg of our hearts, our would-be selves… Yet, unseen…_

 _XXX_

13, almost 14 year old Hinamori Aki sighed as she entered her neighbourhood dojo, the one she'd been going to for almost five years now. She walked across the lush green grass of the yard, making her way into the actual building, which was pretty much deserted at this time of day, with the exception of one person.

"Aki?" She glanced over to her right where her master was sitting with a bottle of beer in his hand, looking surprised. "You're pretty early today," He mused, running a hand over the stubble on his chin. "It's only 2:00… Doesn't your school end at 3:30?" She tossed her bag on the ground and huffed in annoyance.

"I don't want to talk about it," She muttered sourly, trudging over to the changing room where her outfit lay. "Today's been a pain." This elected a raised eyebrow from the teacher who was used to her just grunting in response to his question. _That's a first,_ he hummed to himself, taking a sip of his beer. _What's got her panties in a bunch, I wonder?_

To answer that question, we must go back a few years… Back when everything began.

XXX

A little girl opened her eyes blearily, not entirely sure where she was. She sat up slowly and frowned when she couldn't see anything, raising her hands to try to feel the area around her. _What… What is this…?_ Nothing. It was absolutely nothing. She couldn't see, smell, taste, hear, or feel anything. Panic started to bubble up in her throat, closing it up. _W-What's going on?_ She thought frantically, getting more scared by the second.

As if out of nowhere, a bright light appeared. It was small at first, but slowly grew larger, still fast enough to hurt the girl's eyes. In the centre of the light, a form took shape and came closer to the 12 year old, who could now see and was wincing at the headache that the light brought.

"Human girl of earth," The voice rang out clearly, "You have been chosen, along with your younger sister, to travel to a new world, in exchange for keeping your lives." She trembled, hugging herself tightly.

"A-A new world?" She squeaked. "What d-do you mean, 'keeping your lives'? What did y-you do t-to my sister?" She stammered, not able to muster up any of the courage or bravery she was well known for back home.

"Fear not, little one," The form came closer, taking on the shape of a girl of around 12 years old, the same age as the girl shivering on the floor. "Your sister is merely in a different sector of this dimension," It explained, kneeling down to face the girl. "I'm afraid I have to inform you that you have been in an accident, and you won't be able to return to your body for a long, long, time."

"But I'm in my body," She argued weakly. The being shook her head.

"No, you are currently between worlds, along with your sister. Luckily, or I suppose, unluckily for the four of you, your counterparts in their own worlds have gotten seriously injured as well, resulting in the chance for all of you to switch lives, without dealing with the strain on your souls, therefore keeping you alive." The girl looked overwhelmed by all of this information. "I'm sorry, I know this is a lot to take in, but we have to do the switch now, otherwise it will be too late,"

"W-Wait!" She protested, waving her arms in front of her. "What does that mean, assuming this is all real? Does that mean I…" She swallowed harshly. "I won't get to see my family again?" The being nodded solemnly, confirming the girl's worst fears.

"You will not see them again until you have fulfilled certain… Criteria." The being answered vaguely. "Now, come here." She shifted forward, placing a hand on her forehead. "From now on, you will live in a world where all of your favourite books, tv shows and anime are all real. You will be taking the place of Hinamori Aki, who is supposed to be a main character…" She trailed off. "Of what, I cannot tell you." She refocused her attention on the girl in front of her. "It is your job to find your place and live out your life the best you can." The girl started to get drowsy, her eyelids slipping closed. The being smiled sadly yet gently at the young girl. "My name is Rei, by the way… Good luck, Alexia."

With that, Alexia blacked out, not seeing the obvious regret, guilt and shame on Rei's face. She regarded at the girl splayed out on the floor silently for a moment before she stood up quietly and walked away, leaving the soul of Alexia to fade and seep into the new dimension she would now call home.

XXX

The next thing Alexia, or rather, Aki, knew, she was lying on some sort of hard bed, a sound of a beeping machine next to her. She let out a groan of pain, opening her eyes. Once again, the light was ridiculously bright, along with the fact that every part of her ached.

"Not again," She moaned, shifting slightly only to get the sting of what felt like thousands of paper cuts on her leg. "Not another dream,"

"Aki!" She winced at the sudden noise added to her soundscape, but her eyes flickered over tiredly to the feminine sounding voice regardless. A woman with coppery brown hair any honey gold eyes was quickly moving to stand over her, tear stains obvious under her puffy red eyes. "Oh sweetie, we were so worried," The woman hiccuped, tears making her eyes look shiny as she sniffed. _We?_ Alexia looked over the area again and saw a few more people, one being an adult male, and the other two being young boys, probably around 7 and 12. "You and Ali got hit very badly in the accident, and the doctors said that you might not…" The woman choked up, clearly finding it difficult to say. "Y-You might not make it, since you must've saw it coming and covered up Ali and Shouta instead of reacting for yourself," The honey eyed woman looked at Alexia with a proud but weary smile. Alexis frowned at her, not understanding.

 _"_ _Who are you?"_

XXX

" , ," The doctor in front of Alexia looked at her "parents" with pity, looking up from his clip board. "I'm afraid your daughters are suffering from a case of psychogenic amnesia, which can cause complete loss of memory about their past." He informed them soberly, causing the two adults to gasp. Alexia watched passively from the back of the room with her little sister, who had woken up shortly after Alexia herself. The doctors had done a whole bunch of tests on them to make sure they were somewhat functional, but they were concerned once the brown haired woman told them about Aki not recognizing her.

 _Assuming that this isn't a dream, that Rei person said something about our last name being Hinamori… I guess that means that that woman actually is our mother._ She mused, surprised at how calm she was. Reality would probably kick in soon, but she was going to delay it as long as possible.

"It'll normally fade after a few days, possibly a few weeks. It's extremely rare that a child wouldn't regain their memories, but it's still a possibility," He warned, sneaking a peek at the two silent children in the back. Andrea, Alexia's sister, now known as Ali, hadn't spoken the entire time, but only clung to her sister.

"What should we do?" Their 'father' questioned, gazing worriedly at both his wife and children.

"Just do what you normally do, and don't press them for answers." The doctor advised. "You don't want any flashbacks of… _That_ …occurring randomly, and scaring them." He shook his head sadly. "Such a horrible thing to happen to such little girls…"

"They're only eight," The woman whispered, staring at the floor. "My girls are only eight-" She had to stop when she started to sob, the girls looking on passively.

XXX

"Do you want candy?" Alexis and Andrea stared at the teen with a camcorder blankly, still not having the will to admit to each other that this was reality. The dirty blond haired boy pouted and shook the candy at them. "C'mon, I won't tell the nurses," He whined, the younger boy behind him nodding enthusiastically. Andrea slowly reached out a hand and took it gingerly, snapping her hand back once she had it. The boy grinned happily. "That's better!"

The two boys had turned out to be their siblings, the oldest being 14, as Alexia guessed, and the younger one being only a few months younger than them. They had also found out that they were eight years old, which was a loss of four years on their part. The girls hadn't had a chance to bathe themselves, be alone or look in a mirror yet, so neither of them knew what they themselves looked like.

"Onee-tan," The little one, Shouta, tugged on Alexia's clothes, making her flinch. "Why are you so sad?" He wondered, looking at her face. "You always smile, so why are you sad?" Alexia's eyes softened.

"I'll get better soon," Her voice came out somewhat raspy after so long without use. It'd been almost a week in the hospital, plus the two days she was asleep. "I promise." Shouta's face lit up.

"Really?"

"Yeah." Shisui, the eldest, watched the two interact with interest, but didn't say anything.

XXX

After the second week, the girls were finally allowed to be alone and were permitted to use the shower on their own. Much to their parents' disappointment, the girls hadn't regained any of their "memory".

Gently, Alexia pulled her sister to the bathroom and helped her undress. It was a tedious process, both needing assistance from the other with their injuries. Eventually, they turned on the water and got in, cleaning each other carefully.

"Green," Andrea commented with a look of awe in her eyes, "Your hair is bright green." Alexia turned, looking at her sister. "And you have brown eyes."

"You too," Alexia noted. "It makes sense, if you think about it."

"What do you mean?"

"Those guys, our supposed family, said that we were both eight, and if we're siblings, we're probably twins." Andrea 'oh'ed.

"That does make sense." She hummed, scrubbing her hair with shampoo, careful not to aggravate any of her wounds. "That's a loss of four years, huh…" Her eyes grew misty, but she blinked it away. "You know… When I was talking to the…" She trailed off, not knowing what to call the being.

"Rei." Alexia supplied helpfully, getting out of the shower dripping wet. "She said her name was Rei."

"…Rei. When I was talking to her, she said something about fulfilling certain criteria, and how we would get… achievements?" She shook her head, turning off the water. "Something like that." Alexia hummed, drying herself off.

"She didn't mention the achievements thing to me," She pondered. "She did talk about meeting criteria, though." She paused for a moment. "I know I should be freaking out, but it just doesn't feel real, you know? I don't remember getting into any accident, or having any trauma."

"Same here." Her sister agreed, getting dressed again. "I feel bad for the little girls who lived here though… They just lost four years of childhood, while we went back."

"Yeah." The air in the room grew heavy as they mentioned their counterparts. "I guess we should start calling each other by the names they gave us." Andrea nodded.

"I'm Ali, I think." She recalled. "And I know that you're Aki. What weird names," She started brushing her hair, which was rather long.

"They sound- well, mine at least- like Japanese names."

"Rei did say that the world was made up of your favourite anime and whatnot, and that you're supposed to be replacing someone. Maybe we were born into a family that has main characters? We do have the green hair, after all." Alexia, or rather, Aki, frowned.

"Me? Isn't any of this connected to you?" Andrea, now known as Ali, shook her head.

"She only said you."

"Odd." She sighed and glanced at herself in the mirror that she found in the cupboard. "Well, I guess we'll just have to live with it until we find a way out of here."

 **[ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED: WELCOME TO THE FAMILY]**

The two girls gasped as a floating notification sign appeared in front of their eyes, and something that looked like a game menu popped up -one for each of them- with the buttons saying "Pause", "Inventory", "Wardrobe", "Abilities/Status", "Quests" and "Relationships".

"W-Wha…?" Ali managed, gaping at the screen. "What on earth?"

"Welcome to the world of AMA," Aki read, seeing another pop up on the side of the screen-like thing. "You are Hinamori Aki, the daughter of Hinamori Midori and Hinamori Tsumugu and the sibling of Hinamori Shisui, Ali and Shouta."

"…Your job is to unlock a set path of achievements and complete the story." Ali continued, reading off her own menu. "If you fail to complete the tasks assigned to you, you will be sent back to the start of your lives at age eight and try again." They shared a look of horror. "You can summon this menu by saying either "Menu" or "Game Pause"."

"Your character has: Strength 7, Speed 7, Intelligence 10, Charm 7, Defence 3, Attack 6 and Luck 5." Aki muttered, having clicked on the Status button. "You currently have no quests and nothing on your inventory."

"Um…" Ali clicked on the button as well and scanned the page. "Your character has Strength 6, Speed 7, Intelligence 7, Charm 12, Defence 8, Attack 2, Luck 2 ." She frowned. "Why am I the weak one?"

"Hey, you have more charm than I do," Aki protested. "You're pretty much averaged out, other than the fact that you're super weak and unlucky."

"Hey!"

"Girls, are you okay in there?" Midori's voice called from the other side of the door. "You've been in there a long time." The two girls glanced at the door then back at each other.

"We're fine," Aki called back in a monotone. "We'll be out in a minute or two."

XXX

A few months had passed since the switch occurred, and the girls were finally allowed to come home. Their parents had done pretty much everything to try to get their memories back, using their favourite foods, shows, and toys. The only thing that they responded to was their rooms, which had all the same things that were inside of them in their own world.

"My bunny!" Aki snatched the stuffed animal off of her bed after the adults had left them, cuddling it close. "And my books are here too!" She saw all of her furniture and clothing, although it was a bit smaller, and her electronics as well. She rolled over on her bed to open her phone, but none of the contacts worked when she pressed on them. Her message history was still there, along with photos of her family and friends, much to her relief.

The green haired girl sighed and closed her eyes, thinking about what they'd learned. _I've got to get used to having a food bar and a health bar,_ She thought. They noticed that they didn't need to eat as frequently as others and checked their menu. It turned out that they only _had_ to eat when they were running low on health or stamina, which was damaged by injuries. They also found out that every person they came across had a level, title and health bar above their heads, much like a game of sims.

Their inventory was useful as well, so they didn't actually have to carry things around with them, they could just put it in their inventory and call it back out into their hands when they needed it. _This world is so strange…_

Ali burst into the room carrying her phone and babbling happily to her older sister.

"Ne, Aki, look!" She squealed, showing her sketchbook. "All of my things are here!" Aki nodded, much less enthusiastic than her sister.

"All of mine are here too," She hummed, sitting up and getting off the bed. "I want to explore, and figure out where we are." Ali blinked at her.

"How're we gonna do that?" She questioned, tilting her head to the side. "We just got back from the hospital and we have "amnesia". There's no _way_ they'll let us go out on our own, _especially_ since we're eight." Ali pointed out. Aki shook her head, hair swishing with her moments.

"Not if we have a guide," Aki refuted. "That Shisui guy is 14, and I'm sure that they'll trust him enough to let him walk around with us."

"Oh, that's smart!" Ali praised her sister. Aki nodded and walked to the stairs, going down them into the living room. She glanced around at their surroundings. Apparently this was only a temporary house, since they were planning on having a baby within the next few years again.

"O-Okaa-san?" Aki stumbled over the unfamiliar term, but caught the woman's attention anyhow. She turned and smiled kindly at the two.

"Yes, Aki-chan?" _Yeah, we're definitely in Japan,_ Aki noted. Midori had "LVL 7, MOTHER" above her head and a small gauge that showed that she was feeling fine.

"I was wondering if Shisui could take us around the neighbourhood," She asked, catching the look of worry on the woman's face. "We won't go far, just around the area near the house."

"I don't know…"

"Please?" Ali pressed, holding Aki's hand. "We'll be with Shisui-nii, so we'll be okay," She reasoned, looking pleadingly at the boy on the couch. He nodded.

"I'll go with them, and it might trigger something," He smiled at his mother reassuringly. "Besides, we can't keep them all cooped up in the house, right?" She sighed.

"I suppose." She gave in, but gave Shisui a stern look. "Be back by 6:00, and don't start any monkey business, okay?" The blond gave her a mock salute.

"Roger that." He got up and waltzed over to them, softly pulling them to the door. "C'mon, let's go."

XXX

Ali dashed ahead of us, excited to be outside, much to Shisui's amusement. He was always recording something, and always had his camcorder on hand. He turned the camera over to me, probably recording my reaction.

"Aren't you going to smile?" He grinned at me cheerily, obviously happy that his little sisters were finally out of the hospital. I shook my head.

"I don''t feel particularly happy, so I don't feel like smiling." He raised his eyebrows in surprise. "What?"

"Those are some pretty big words for an eight year old," He responded. _Crap, I forgot that we're eight!_ I cursed in my head, but kept a poker face. "I don't remember you knowing what 'particularly' meant before." I shrugged casually.

"I don't remember me knowing anything before." He flinched at that comment, making me feel a little guilty, but it was better to play dumb. "I don't even remember what made me go to the hospital." A half truth. Aki had heard the nurses in the hospital, and knew that it was a car crash, and that she protected her younger siblings, but that was it. Shisui was still recording, but his face showed that he was internally debating.

"You were in a car crash," He started slowly, looking sad. "You, Papa, Shouta and Ali were all in the car, but you were the first to react," He recounted, telling her what she already knew. "You covered Ali, who in turn protected Shouta. Since the car hit the right side, only you and Ali got injured, really." His expression darkened. "We were lucky that the car only skidded across the road, and didn't flip over. It could've gotten really nasty…" He must've realized that he was telling this to an eight year old, since he stopped talking. "Anyway, the doctor thought that since you were scared really badly, your brain did this thing where you lost your memories, so that you wouldn't remember it," He tried to explain. _Nope, I just switched bodies with one of your little sisters,_ I corrected him internally.

"Oh." I looked up at him, but he wasn't all that much taller than me. I was pretty tall, close to my original height, actually. It wouldn't surprise me if I grew a lot more.

"Aki, Shisui-nii, hurry up!" Ali was at the end of the road now, tapping her foot impatiently.

"We're coming, we're coming, jeez." I started to jog over to her, Shisui behind me. _I suppose I can deal with this world for awhile longer, but I'm going to have to train._ My HP bar only had a few point in it, and that scared me. If I were to fall or get hit by something, I would be screwed if I didn't have food on me.

XXX

 **[A/n]: So, that's the beginning of the story! There'll be a bit more of backstory before I get on to the actual main chunks.**

 **[Ali]: Please review and F/F if you liked it!**

 **[Aki]: We hope to see you next time.**

 **[Ali]: *pouts* C'mon, put more energy in it! Thanks for reading and we hope to see you next time!**


	2. I've met a Useless Person, Part one!

**[A/n]: Yo! I'm back!**

 **Sorry, there's a lot of skips in this chapter, but I'm just trying to hit all the important parts before I head onto the actual plot line. Each chapter focuses on one year (in this case there'll be two chapters) and there should only be around six more chapters of back story, possibly seven, depending on how deep I go. You won't see their entire lives, but just little snippets of what happened and how she becomes the way she is.**

 **[Aki]: You're late.**

 **[A/n]: I'm sorrrrryyyyy! I've been held hostage by the treacherous homework fairy!**

 **Thanks to AngelDemon445, cassjo and patamon642 for F/F!**

 _Chapter two,_

 _I've Met a Useless Person, Part one!_

 _XXX_

Aki walked around town on her own, going down a new street that she'd always seen on her walks, but never went down. It'd been around six months since the incident, the girls had turned nine, and they were finally allowed to go out on their own, although they had a set area that they were allowed in, not that Aki followed it.

Aki had since improved her stats and abilities, but not by much, since she didn't really have much of a place to train. Her luck had improved by 2, and her strength, charm and intelligence had gone up by 2, 1, and 4 respectively.

She had also gained the titles, "Eloquent Liar" and "Housekeeper", which were pretty much as they sounded. Eloquent Liar showed up after she repeatedly lied to her parents about where she'd been and what she remembered, and housekeeper appeared after she kept cleaning up after her sister, who left trails of garbage around the house, much to Aki's annoyance. Would it kill her to put her garbage in the garbage?

Going down the street with a sigh, she heard a loud banging noise, then a shout of _"goddamn it!"_ down the alleyway, piquing her curiosity.

"Crap, that's gonna stain," A black haired man whined, picking at his shirt. He seemed pretty fit, and was definitely in his mid twenties. "And this is my good shirt too…" Aki watched him for a moment, and his gaze flickered over to her. She flinched. "Hello." He muttered uncomfortably, turning to face her. The brown eyed girl nodded in acknowledgement.

"Good afternoon." He sized her up, making Aki shift nervously. He had a health bar, but the labels over his head were odd. He had a large yellow exclamation mark and no title. "You can get rid of that stain by using vinegar, you know," She saw that the stain was from a red pop drink. "Or even just cold water and soap." His eyes lit up.

"Seriously?" She nodded. "Thanks!" He paused, looking up at the sky for a moment. "What's your name?" Aki narrowed her eyes at him.

"I don't give out my name to strangers." She replied and turned to walk away, back into the street where there were people.

"Wait! My name is Hibiki Shinji, and I run a dojo near here," He called, catching her attention. Dojo? "Feel free to drop by if you feel like it, we're on 106 Yama street!" She kept walking, but stored that information in her head. _That could be useful._

 **[Quest (optional): Go to the Dojo and participate in classes. Rewards: $20, 15 EXP]**

Aki blinked at the notification. They came up occasionally, like when Midori started sending her on errands or asked her to clean something. The rewards typically consisted of +trust from her mother, some EXP and possibly some money. She didn't get an allowance, so that would probably be useful later on.

She clicked accept, and it moved over to "Quests" in her menu. Normally when she got notifications, the world kept going; however, when she went into menu, the world stopped, but she could only go places she'd been before. Aki tested it out one night but when she tried going on new streets, it would bring her right back to her room.

XXX

I walked up to the large doors of the supposed Dojo, Ali and Shisui tagging along behind me. It turned out that Shisui was actually very protective of us, and I have to admit, I'd grown fond of him.

"Well, this is it." I gestured at the doors. "Now what?"

"Opening them would be one of the first things that I can think of." Shisui remarked, brushing past me to push at the doors. He frowned and pushed harder, but the doors wouldn't budge. I raised an eyebrow.

"Is it locked?" He shook his head, looking baffled.

"No, it doesn't seem like it, it's just…" The now fifteen year old trailed off for a moment.

"It's just…?" Ali prompted, moving closer to the doors and giving them an experimental push herself. "Oh. That's weird." I frowned.

"What's weird?" I asked exasperatedly, still waiting for an answer. Ali nudged me over and looked at me expectantly, waiting for me to try. After a moment, I braced my arms against it and pushed, but nothing happened. _Ara?_ I pressed harder, I even tried kicking it, but it wouldn't budge. "That is weird," I admitted, not seeing any lock or any way to lock it.

"Oya? You're that girl from the other day, aren't you?" It was the black haired man, who still had an exclamation mark above his head, and no level. He grinned happily at me, looking pleased. "I was hoping you'd come back," He said, coming closer and pushing open the doors with one arm, much to all of our shock.

"N-No way…" Shisui stuttered, gaping at him in shock.

"Now, why don't you all come in?"

XXX

To say the property was large was an understatement.

There must've been at least an acre of space, which was unusual in a place like Tokyo. I could only guess how much money it must've cost. _Lots of plants, and it looks well kept, too,_ I noticed, scanning my surroundings as we followed the supposed martial artist. There doesn't seem to be anyone around though.

The man, Hibiki Shinji, led us into a large building which was empty with the exception of what looked like some training equipment, and sat down on the floor. Shisui eyed him with suspicion, but sat down anyways, Ali and I following suit.

"So, what do you need from me, Midori-chan*?" My eye twitched slightly from the overly familiar nickname.

"My name is Hinamori Aki," I corrected, shifting to be in a more comfortable position. "And I have come to enrol in one of your classes, assuming you have any." He hummed interestedly, going cross legged.

"I see… Why does a cute girl like you want to learn martial arts?" He asked, looking me in the eyes. "It's a very difficult and sweaty process, and you won't be able to wear pretty dresses during training." _I don't want to get punched and die, is the obvious answer, but I probably shouldn't say that._

"I want to be stronger." I stared back at him, trying not to be unnerved by his gaze. "And I don't really like dresses anyway." Shinji nodded to himself and turned to my siblings.

"What about you two?"

"Same here," My sister chirped, my brother agreeing.

"I want to join too, temporarily. I can't leave my baby sisters alone in a place like this when I don't even know who you are." Shinji pulled something out of the pocket of his sweater, which was pretty unprofessional for the head of a dojo. I knew we came on short notice, but _still_.

"Let's see…" He scanned the paper and it looked like he was calculating something. "I have all days except Sundays free, and the classes cost… $40 dollars per month," He informed us, folding the paper up again. "Of course, I'll need written or verbal consent from your parents along with the payment."

"How many classes am I allowed to take and what times are there?"

"You can take as many as you want, but it'll still be the same price, unless you break something," He waved off my question, my siblings oddly quiet. "You can come pretty much any time in the day and I'll be here unless I say otherwise." He grinned at me. "Although, I wouldn't condone skipping classes, so you should probably come before or after school."

"We don't have school yet." I interjected, brushing a strand of my rather long green hair behind my shoulder. "We were in an accident, so Ali and I aren't in school until next April."

"Ten months, huh?" He mused, Shisui's expression souring as I explained, Ali shifting closer to him comfortingly. "I can get you pretty far if you came every day and so as long as your parents agree, we can start next Monday." I stood up and bowed slightly to him before turning and moving for the door.

"We'll be back next Monday."

"Thank you, Hibiki-san," I heard my sister say to the man as I waited at the sliding door.

 **[Quest Completed- Rewards: $20, 15 EXP]**

I eyed the rewards carefully, making sure to discreetly click the "Accept" button. Right after I did that, another notification popped up.

 **[New Quest- Convince Parents]**

 _Oh, that'll be fun,_ I thought sarcastically.

XXX

 _No rewards this time, huh?_ I mused, running a hand through my hair in the shower, letting the water cascade over my body. My body looked completely different from my old one, even the size of my shoulders being different.

I had to wonder how the real Aki was doing in my body, and how life was going there. _Wait a minute,_ I frowned, turning off the water and climbing out of the tub. _If this world is just as real as my own, does that mean that Rei is a god?_ I shook my head, not wanting to even think about my world, for fear of getting homesick.

I'd left so many people behind, my Mama, Papa, and my family was just about to welcome a baby boy, who was going to be named Taylor. There was also Sora, who was my best friend for my entire life, who I was never going to see again…

"Eh…?" Something wet hit my hands as I leaned against the counter next to the sink. I raised my hands and felt tears coming from my eyes. "Damn it, I wasn't going to cry…" I choked, hiding my head in my hands. "Stop crying, damn it," I ordered myself weakly, but to no avail. The tears kept flowing, regardless of my attempts to stop it.

Eventually I sighed and wiped my face off with the towel, trying to hide the red around my almond shaped brown eyes. _It's not too noticeable, I think,_ I sighed again, getting myself dressed into the "pyjamas" -which were just a tank top and shorts- Midori had gotten me after I'd grown out of my clothes. Oddly enough, all of my clothes and whatnot had appeared in my closet along with Aki's clothes. _It was probably Rei's doing,_ I decided.

 _Now, time to face the over protective parents._

XXX

"No, no, no! Absolutely _not_!" Tsumugu argued, my mother sitting quietly on the couch, listening to her husband rage, not that he was at all intimidating. Our father was ridiculously over protective, as I stated earlier. He didn't want anything to happen to his "baby girls", I understood that, but it was _incredibly_ infuriating. "What if you get a bruise? What if you break a bone?!" His voice rose in pitch as he panicked. I rolled my eyes somewhat discreetly. Shisui saw it though, and he snickered.

"Oh no, heaven forbid I get a bruise," I said monotonously. "Or what if I even-" I let out a mock gasp of horror. "Get a paper cut?!" Tsumugu obviously didn't catch onto my sarcasm, however, Midori did. She looked surprised, clearly not expecting that from her nine year old daughter.

"Exactly! We can't let our precious darlings get hurt!"

"The only thing that will hurt us is if you keep sheltering us!" I countered, getting frustrated. "At this rate, you'll just pretend that that accident didn't happen, whatever it was, and act like nothing will ever go wrong! It will!"

"That's right," Ali joined in, grabbing my hand. "You can't pretend that we're still the same people that you knew before. We've changed, and you know that." Tsumugu flinched when she said that, looking down. "We aren't gaining any of our past memories, and we can't be protected forever. We have to go out and learn!"

"They're right, dear." Midori interjected from the couch, looking at us with a… bittersweet expression, I suppose. "We can't keep them cooped up in the house and this small neighbourhood forever. Besides," She rose to place a hand on her husband's shoulder. "Learning martial arts might be good for them, they'll be able to protect themselves better."

After a few more convincing arguments from his wife, Tsumugu agreed to let us go and our mother wrote up a note and handed it to me with a smile before bed.

"…Thanks." I muttered quietly, not yet used to her presence.

"Aki-chan?" I looked up at her face, only to be met with a lonely looking one. "Can I hug you?" I twitched. I'd been avoiding physical contact with our parents the entire time, trying to to get attached to any of them. I didn't realize how much that must've hurt her, not being able to hug her little girl or kiss her good night.

I nodded hesitantly, allowing her to wrap her arms around me in a tight embrace. It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. After a moment, she let go and smiled again.

"Thank you." She walked over to the living room and turned on the TV, going back to what she was doing before.

"Yeah."

 **[Quest Complete]**

XXX

"Midori-chan, you have to do at least 20 more pushups before you start the next part of our training," Shinji called from his spot under the tree.

"My name isn't Midori," I grunted, feeling the strain in my body from already doing 15 pushups. Even in my own world, I wasn't much of an athlete. I used to absolutely hate gym class because I was so bad at sports, and it seemed like that was the one thing that hadn't changed in this new body of mine. "It's sad to watch someone's memory fade as they grow old, it must be hard," I could see his smile turn a little deadly.

"Add ten more pushups to that, brat." I grinned. It was worth it.

It was the third day, and all we'd done was exercise. We did squats, pushups, pull-ups, everything and anything you could think of.

"Aki, don't taunt Sensei," Ali scolded, slightly out of breath, being the more polite of the two of us. "He controls how many pushups we have to do." _Never mind._

In Shinji's, or Sensei's, defence, he had done some good for us. Ali's and my strength had shot up, making us strong enough to withstand a few punches. The only thing I was concerned about was when we started sparring. I couldn't exactly stop every time my health was low and eat an apple, could I?

Shisui, on the other hand…

"I need a break," He groaned, only halfway through the assigned 35 pushups, while I was at the 37th one. Ali was the fastest of the three of us and finished almost right after she'd spoken

"C'mon, your little sisters can do more pushups than you," Sensei scolded, scratching his stubble on his chin.

Finally finished, I laid back, waiting for our brother to complete the set.

 **[Level up! You are now at level three! Rewards: +2 Speed, +1 Defence, 11 EXP, $22]**

I clicked the accept button and watched as it blinked out of existence. It was so odd.

I glanced over at Shinji, who now had a title over his head, but no level. Was he that strong that I couldn't tell what level he was? The average person was around a level 3, sometimes a level five at most. Ali was at level two still, and Shisui was barely level one.

"Hey, brat." I snapped out of my thoughts with a "hmm?", making him roll his eyes. "What's that around your neck, there?" He pointed at a shiny silver locket around my neck in the shape of a heart. "No jewelry during training, you might choke."

"This…?" I touched it lightly, remembering how I found it. It was a few days ago when I was rummaging through my room to find one of my sketchbooks…

XXX

 _Aki swung open the door, quickly entering and closing it, trying not to alert her younger brother who had a habit of always asking her to play with him, that she was upstairs._

 _"Where is it…?" She mused, scanning her rather messy room. It was pretty small, but she'd managed to cram in a ridiculous amount of books and manga, along with her sketchbooks. There were many piles of books on the floor and on the bed perched precariously._

 _Although she had many, there was one sketchbook in particular she was fond of lately, and she just couldn't find it!_

 _Scouring her desk, she shifted some papers over to the other side of her table and paused. A small white box that she didn't remember being there was underneath the mountain of papers, a note tucked underneath it._

 _"What's this?" She picked it up gently, opening it slowly. Inside was a small silver heart pendant with a tiny red rose on the middle. Aki picked it up carefully, looking at it and noticing the little lines around the sides, letting her know that it was probably a locket. The green haired girl picked at it with her fingers, prying it open and showing her a picture of her family on one side, and her friend Sora on the other. Her heart clenched, feeling absolutely devastated and delighted at the discovery at the same time._

 _Snapping it shut again, she decided to look at the note below the box, picking it up as well, reading it._

 _"Dear Alexis," She read aloud, feeling odd when she heard her old name. "Once again, I'm so very sorry for doing this to you. I hope that by the time you read this, you will have forgiven me, at least partially. I can't say that all the worst parts are over, but it will be calm for a few years at least. I sent you to this world for a specific purpose, not just that you and your counterparts were injured. For what, I cannot tell you yet, but I hope you will not hold that against me." Aki stared blankly at the paper, processing what she read. "I know it's little compensation, but there's a gift inside this box for you._

 _"Your family is doing well, and are coping with the change much better than most would. Your little friend… Sora, was it? He's taking it a bit hard, and he seems a bit suspicious of your counterpart. He's pretty intelligent to even suspect something._

 _"Finally, your mother and father are well. Your mother was quite upset at first, but she's handling it. Her pregnancy is going great, and your father got a promotion._

 _"I'll send messages to you like this occasionally to give you updates and orders from me, if need be._

 _-Rei_

 _"PS. This locket was a gift that your friend Sora wanted you to have. He made it himself, but was unable to give it to you because of the accident. He misses you a lot." Aki stood in silence for moment before putting on the locket and walking out of the room, no longer in the mood to draw. She just needed to lay down somewhere quiet and undisturbed for awhile…_

XXX

"Okay." I unclasped it and put it in one of the hidden pockets in my gi, smiling lightly. Shinji blinked, obviously not expecting me to give up without a fight.

"Done!" Shisui gasped, not even bothering to sit up, collapsing on the ground where he was. Shinji clapped his hands.

"Alright, next, do fifty running laps around the block!"

 **"Ehhhhhh!?"**

XXX EXTRA XXX

"Nee, Aki," Ali called from the other side of the living room on one of the odd days they were left alone in the house.

"Hmm?"

"If we're in Japan, that means everyone's speaking Japanese, right?"

"Mhm." Aki mumbled out a reply, not paying attention to her sister at all, reading her new manga. She was a little worried that if she liked it, it would be added to the world, whatever that meant, but she wasn't going to give up reading it.

"But we're from Canada, so we're speaking English." Ali continued, making it sound more like a statement than a question.

"Yep."

"Then…" She frowned, looking puzzled. "Why do we understand them?" Aki looked up, eyes widened.

"That's… That's a good question."

"Can we still speak english?"

"Who knows?"

 _"Menu!"_

After a few minutes of experimentation and a lot of googling, it was determined that they could still speak english, but it sounded exactly the same as Japanese. To start up the language, they had to call up the menu and switch.

"…What the hell is wrong with this place?" Aki muttered, making her sister laugh nervously out of reflex. "Well, whatever," She shook her head and went back to her manga. "Nothing in this world can surprise me anymore."

"You've just jinxed us." Ali sang, getting up and dancing over to the kitchen. Aki frowned again.

"Shut it, I'm trying to read."

XXX

 ***Midori- Green. Shinji was trying to be funny and made a pun off of her hair. Funnily enough, that's also the name of her mother, Hinamori Midori.**

 **[A/n]: I was gonna make it longer, but you guys probably don't want to read over 3,500ish words, right? I can make it longer if you like that length, though.**

 **[Aki]: Thanks for reading.**

 **[Shisui]: See you next time!**

 **[Ali]:** ** _Please review,_** **and F/F if you liked it!**


	3. I've met a Useless Person, Part two!

**[A/n]: Not much to say here :)**

 **Thanks to ImaginationStationQueen and thesevenderes for F/F!**

 _Chapter Three_

 _I've met a Useless Person, Part Two_

 _XXX_

Aki walked back from the dojo alone since her sister had decided to skip that day. She'd grown tremendously strong, at least, much stronger than the average nine-year-old. April was drawing near, the month that she would be allowed back at school. She had seven months before she was forced back into what she considered torture on earth. At least she had all the knowledge of the next grades, so as long as she studied on her own time, she'd always be ahead of her classmates.

Aki wasn't particularly fond of the idea of going back and apparently it was the school she'd been going to her entire life, so that meant that she was going to have to explain to a bunch of snot-nosed kids why she'd been away. As you could tell, the girl wasn't too fond of children who were around the ages of nine and ten. Those'd been bad years back in her own world.

She kicked a pop can on the side of the road, her mood soured. _Oh well,_ She sighed, continuing down her street. _Nothing I can do about it… Are?_ An unknown car, or at least, one she didn't recognize, was parked in their driveway. She paused to look at the vehicle, which was pretty small, but large enough for a small family.

Aki opened the door slowly, peeking in carefully, eyeing the living room which could clearly be seen from the front door. Sitting on the couch was what looked like a mother and her child, and couple with a kid who looked like he was around five years old. Five-year-olds, she could deal with. The other one looked to be around Shisui's age, who was currently chatting with him. Shouta looked to be sulking on the couch because the adults were all chatting with each other. The only one who wasn't there was Ali, who was probably up in her room watching some soap opera or reality show. Damn, she loved those things.

"Ah, Aki-chan!" Midori noticed her first, making Aki twitch. "Come here and say hello to your cousins!" She ordered, waving her over. Aki took off her shoes and shuffled into the living room, muttering a hello.

"You might want to let me shower first, I'm a bit sweaty from training,"

"She's so big now," The single mother exclaimed, staring at the green haired girl. "The last time I saw her, she was just a little dear!" The man who was most likely he uncle agreed.

"It was probably around a year and a half ago now, wasn't it, dear?" His supposed wife, who was very beautiful nodded enthusiastically.

"Oh, she's so pretty now," She cooed at Aki. All the attention was making her uncomfortable and made her instinctively stiffen when the wife reached out to touch her. Aki flinched away a little, not used to the people in this world quite yet. Well, then again, she'd never been fond of people who she'd barely knew touching her.

"Nadeshiko, Haru, Ayumi, I'm afraid there's something we haven't told you." Midori addressed the three adults, the two children listening attentively as well. Aki's mother shifted nervously, glancing at Aki, who nodded in return.

"I'll do it, Okaa-san," Aki took control of the situation, turning to face the adults head on. "Approximately seven months ago, Ali, Shouta, Otou-san and I were in a car crash. I'm guessing you've heard about it?" She almost slipped up in the first sentence, forgetting that she had to hide her intelligence somewhat. The adults all nodded, unsure of where she was going with this. The boy Shisui's age looked intrigued. "What my mother probably didn't tell you was that Ali and I have lost our memory, so I don't remember anything during and before the accident," She explained as the adults gasped. "So if you can reintroduce yourself, that'd be great."

"Amnesia…?"

"She certainly doesn't talk like she used to," The male, Haru hummed, looking less taken aback than his two female counterparts. "Oh well," He grinned at her, much to Aki's surprise. "We'll just have to make more awesome memories, ne?"

"…"

"You don't remember any of us?" The woman on the right questioned, leaning forwards. Aki shook her head.

"I don't remember anything before waking up in the hospital," She confirmed. Midori's hands shook a little as she grasped her husband's hands in her own.

"I'm sorry," She apologized, not looking at them all. "It's just that it's been a little hard to adjust to-"

"Nonsense," Haru interrupted, wrapping an arm around his still shocked wife. "We understand, Midori-nee," _Oh? So he is my uncle,_ Aki watched him curiously. His reaction to the incident had been the most interesting out of all of them. Most of the adults that her mother had told were either shocked or started crying, like the single mom, who Aki was assuming Ayumi was. "Tell you what," He started again, throwing a wink at the green haired girl, "Let us babysit your kids every once and awhile so that you can get a break, and we can give the twins a good time."

"Onee-tan?" The little one tugged on her clothes. He was pretty small, and had pretty black hair, similar to his father. He had his mother's blue eyes as well, ice blue ones that held innocence. "What're they thaying?" _Thaying? …Oh. Saying._ Aki knelt down onto his level and tousled his messy hair, making him giggle.

"I'm just having a problem remembering things," She explained softly, having a soft spot for small children. She liked them at ages 1-8, but 9-10, no thank you. "So I'm going to need your help, okay?" He looked at her, eyes shining as he pointed to himself.

"My help?" She nodded.

"Mm."

XXX

"I am _not_ wearing that… That… _Thing_." Aki hissed at Haru, who had gotten her a frilly pink dress as a present from his vacation. He pouted at her, moving closer to her with the monstrosity, ignoring his wife's warnings.

His wife, Nadeshiko, had become wary of the nine-year-old after seeing her attitude towards most things. She tended to favour Ali, the more friendly and happy one.

Aki didn't mean to come off so cold, but she wasn't particularly happy with the way things were going. Plus, she was getting into puberty again, making her hormones change and making her grouchy. _Damn puberty, going through it once was enough,_ she grumbled internally, _I don't need to do it again._

Aki continued to back away from her very huggy and touchy uncle, who made it his mission to get close to her and break down her icy shell that she'd created against the adults.

"C'mon, it's not that bad," He protested, giving it a once over. Aki snorted.

"It's impractical, a horrible shade of pink and it's covered in a ridiculous amount of plastic jewels. You try it on and tell me how you feel."

"No thanks, I'd rather not give you nightmares."

"Exactly."

And with that, the dress was tossed aside. Haru didn't mean for her to actually wear it anyway. He got it to see how she would react to gifts.

XXX

"Shisui-nii, what're you doing?" Ali asked, swinging her legs off of the chair in the backyard, watching her brother point his camera at her bickering uncle and sister. He swivelled around to her, the blinking red light on the side of the camera telling her that he was recording.

"I'm recording everything," He answered happily, in a good mood because of the nice weather. "In the future, we'll look back and laugh because of all the silly things we did now, and maybe you two'll get your memories back!" Ali hummed. _Fat chance of that,_ she thought.

Shisui turned back to the other two, chuckling as Haru started to close in on his little sister, trying to hug her. Nadeshiko, who was sitting at the table near them, sighed at her idiot husband.

"That man, always trying to do the impossible," She smiled fondly at the two of them, her son, who was named Naoki, on her lap.

"What do you mean?" Ali questioned, straining her neck to look at her aunt.

"Getting your sister to come out of her shell is no easy task, and he knows it, but he still tries anyways." She shook her head, laughing a little. "Then again, he's always been so stubborn."

"You think so?" Ali mused, glancing back over at her sister. "I don't think it's that hard to get Aki out of her shell. All you have to do is get her trust, and she'll slowly start to relax around you." The girl divulged, much to Nadeshiko's interest. "She just acts like that because she doesn't want to get hurt."

"…I guess I'll have a go again," The blue eyed woman decided, brushing a hand through her son's hair. "It couldn't hurt to try, right?" Ali's face lit up when she said that.

"Yeah!"

XXX

Aki watched Shuu, her older cousin, decorate a cake on the table. Her parents were out with his, so he'd volunteered to watch them with Shisui, who was recording, just like always. She had Naoki sitting in her lap and Shouta standing beside her. Ali was sitting at the table with her, watching their cousin.

"Light, fluffy cream, just like a cloud," He sang, making puffy looking designs with the icing. The cake was incredibly well done for an amateur fifteen-year-old. "The strawberry, just like an angel's cheek!" Aki leaned forward. She'd never been good at baking in this world or her own, but she loved to watch people make them. He sprinkled some sprinkles of the top of the cake as well before grabbing the other deserts that were in the oven.

"Wow," Aki breathed, eyes sparkling. All the other kids, including Shisui leaned forwards to get a better look.

"Amazing!" Shouta exclaimed, Naoki looking excited to eat them.

"Well?" Shuu's question was aimed more at Aki, who was usually quiet around him. "Don't they look good?" The brown haired boy asked. She nodded slowly, not taking her eyes off of the pastries. Shuu laughed when he saw her expression.

"Go ahead and try them, Aki-chan," He cut her a slice, along with everyone else who immediately dug in and waited for her verdict. He'd gotten everyone else to warm up to him, but Aki was always the last one to trust someone, as he'd seen.

She took the fork and cut off a piece, looking it over for a moment. _Strawberries…_ She placed it in her mouth. She smiled and made a contented hum and took another bite, ignoring her brother's laughter.

"Alright, Aki-chan smiled!" He cheered, pumping a fist in the air. "Okay! I'm definitely becoming a patissier now!" _Why does that line sound familiar?_

"Patissier?"

"That's a person who makes cakes," Shisui interjected above all the satisfied kids who were stuffing themselves with sugar.

"That's right," Shuu grinned at his cousin before bending down to Aki's level. "Eating a cake can bring a happy smile to everyone from little girls to elderly ladies," He grinned again at her, looking her in the eyes. "The moment you take a bite, you overflow with a happiness that's like falling in love. I'll become a patissier who can make cakes like that!" He gave her a thumbs up. Aki "oh"ed and slowly mimicked him, giving him a thumbs up back.

"That's pretty cheesy," She commented, making him blush sheepishly. "But it sounds like you, Shuu-nii." She smiled at him, having relaxed after his little speech. "If it's you, you'll be able to do it, no problem."

"Aki-chan!" His eyes watered a little. "Can I hug you?"

"Huh? Sure?" As soon as she agreed, he hugged her at full force making her squeak. "Shuu-nii… C-Can't breathe!"

"Onii-tan, you're hurting Onee-tan!" Naoki was getting squished in the hug too, then Shouta joined in. Then Ali and Shisui.

"Gah, get off of me, I'm gonna die!"

XXX

"Onee-chaaaaan, I'm bored," Shouta whined at me when I started reading my book. I found it odd that he was only a few months younger than us, although he was technically a year younger than us, being born in late December, almost January, while Ali and I were born in June. When I confronted my parents about it, they just avoided the question. I was guessing that either Ali and I were adopted, or he was, seeing as the human body couldn't have a healthy baby in six months. "Onee-chan!"

"Whaaaaat?" I groaned back in the same tone, trying to read my book. Three months until his birthday. "I'm trying to read."

"Play with me, I'm bored," He demanded, staring at me from behind the couch that I was lying on. I rolled over onto my side, placing the book on the coffee table. I'd learned from experience that trying to get out of it would do no good. When Shouta wanted something he would get it. Luckily, though, it was September, so he still had school. Japan was weird, they started school in April and only had around a two-week summer break. Then again, they got breaks a lot more, which was cool. I just found it odd that they were in one class one day, then switch! New class the next day. "Are you listening to me?"

"Yeah, yeah, I hear you." He pouted at me with his cute chocolate brown eyes. He may be whiny, but that kid certainly had one thing going for him, he was as cute as a little puppy. He was gonna be one heck of a heart breaker in the future. "Do you want to play dress up or something?"

"Nooooo, I wanna go watch you fight Sensei!" Ah, yes, did I forget to mention that Shouta had joined us on our little adventure? No? Well, he joined the Dojo as well, but he absolutely loved to watch me spar, for whatever reason.

Thanks to Sensei's training, I'd had the HP to be able to spar without killing myself by accident. I'd found out that my health regenerated at the rate of five HP a minute, which wasn't too bad. As long as we were sparring, my health would regenerate so long as he didn't beat the absolute crap out of me. He also gave ten-minute breaks every half hour.

My stamina was pretty crappy to begin with, but adding in the stamina bar was awful. It took a long time to be able to run more than three laps around the property in one go, which was pretty large, mind you.

In total, I was at level six now, and I was halfway to level seven. Ali was at level five now, and Shisui was at three. It was kind of sad to see how slow he was at learning that type of thing. The amount of times he'd collapsed from the harsh training was too many to count. Sensei was pretty harsh on us, but he treated us fairly.

"It's a Sunday," I groaned again. "He's not gonna be there. How about we go and play ninja?"

"Yeah!"

XXX

"Onee-chan, look!" I looked away from the sky that I was admiring, only to be met with my little brother standing on the top of the monkey bars, hands on his hips.

"Uh… Shouta…" I uttered nervously, not wanting to get in trouble for hurting my little brother. He was barely level 2, and his HP bar was pretty low. "You might want to get down from there, you're gonna fall." He laughed loudly, throwing his head back.

"I'll be fine! I have magic ninja powers- _UWA_!" Right after he said that, his foot slipped, making him fall downwards, hitting his crotch and then falling over sideways to the ground.

"…" I paled, slowly lowering my gaze to the ground where my little brother lay. I saw that his HP went down 6 points. After a second of groaning, he jumped back up on his feet.

"I'm okay!"

"My god…" I muttered, staring back up at the sky. "I have to wonder how many brain cells he's killed already."

"Hey!"

I heard a laugh from behind us and when I turned to look, a little boy with orange hair was standing behind the fence of the park, giggling. He grinned at Shouta and I, my little brother more enthralled with him than I was.

"Haha, sorry, sorry," He apologized, rubbing the back of his neck. Shouta bounced over to him, awe in his eyes.

"Your hair is so cool!" He blurted, the other boy looking surprised.

"Really? Thanks!" He gave Shouta a thumbs up, shifting the soccer ball he was carrying to his other arm.

"What's that?"

"Hmmm?"

"Is that a soccer ball?" The redhead grinned at him.

"Yep! You wanna play?"

For the rest of the day, Shouta and the red-haired boy played soccer while I sat on the grass and watched. My brown eyed little brother was getting his butt kicked left and right, but he didn't seem to care. In the end, I never did learn his name, and I never saw him again, as far as I could recall.

XXX

"Kiki, I'm dying." I moaned from the wooden floor of the dojo. I didn't have as much endurance as my older sister, who was much more suited to martial arts than I was. Oh well, I had charm and social skills.

"You're fine, Ali." She rolled her eyes, still doing jumping jacks, her hair up in a braid and only wearing a tank top and shorts. We'd messed up doing some of our basic katas, so Sensei made us do a "short" workout.

It was an odd place. Our sensei didn't actually teach a martial art, he just taught a weird mixture of whatever the heck he wanted and basic workouts. We found out later on that he had sons as well.

What was with the over population of boys lately? Back home, we had a girls majority. Well, not that I'm complaining, a lot of them were very cute. Cuter and hotter than the boys back home, who just picked their noses half the time and…Where was I?

Right. Sons. Gotcha.

Anyway, his sons, Yuji and Akira, were supposed to come today and help out. As it also turned out, he actually had a house and a wife, as weird as that was, and it wasn't that far from our own.

"Sensei," I called, still not getting up from the floor. "When are your kids supposed to get here? I don't wanna be all sweaty and gross." He rolled his eyes too, sitting on the edge of the opened sliding door.

"Who knows. Yuji is usually fine on his own, but Akira is a little…"

"A little what?" I prompted.

"Never mind, just finish your set. If you don't, you get twenty pushups added to that."

"Ehhhh?" I whined, sitting up. "You're so mean."

"Suck it up, princess," A new voice from Sensei's direction scolded. "Man, I didn't think that she'd be so whiny." It continued. I looked over, offended, only to be met with the most beautiful, gorgeous, amazing face I'd ever seen. "What's wrong with her face?" Oh, I was probably drooling. I was a sucker for a pretty face.

He had shining blond hair, and the gentlest face I'd ever seen, along with the most amazing green eyes. My god, he even had the perfect clothes on to complete his looks! He looked like the type of person who could do anything and be absolutely perfect at it.

"Now, now, don't be so rude," The other boy tried to soothe his brother. He was great looking too, but he had more of a bad boy look. He had the same blond hair and green eyes, but his face was almost… rougher, as if he was ready to fight anyone in his path. His hair was styled in spikes, a contrast to his brother's more natural looking hairdo.

"It's not just her today," Sensei interjected, gesturing to Kiki, who was still continuing the workout, ignoring the two boys who'd just walked in. She was never boy crazy like I was. Come to think of it, she was always impassive towards the idea of dating. I swear, my sister is an alien! "The one on the floor drooling is probably Ali,"

"Probably?"

"And the brat who's pretending that none of us exist is most likely Aki." He continued, gesturing at my sister, who hadn't even given the two so much as a glance.

"Twins…" Akira hummed, understanding now.

"Hi," I smiled sweetly at them, letting my new ability, "Charming", take over. "I'm Ali, and that's my sister Aki."

"He already said that, stupid." The kind looking one scoffed, looking me over with what looked like a twinge of disgust. I guess my ability wasn't that strong yet.

"Akira!" His brother scolded, swatting his arm. He turned to me with a sigh and bowed. "I'm sorry for my brother, he's hot tempered." Oh? Looks like their insides and outsides don't match.

"Yuji, you don't have to apologize to a nitwit like her," Akira ran a hand through his blond hair. "She probably doesn't understand what you're saying anyway."

"Now listen here, you-" I started angrily, but I was cut off my sister, who walked over to him. She stared him dead in the eye, making him squirm.

"W-What's your problem?" He stammered.

"My problem is that you're picking on my baby sister, even though she's done nothing wrong," She answered cooly. "If you don't mind not acting like a jerk, it'd be appreciated." _A-Aki, I don't think that's the right wording to use to a cranky nine-year-old,_ I sweat dropped, now more worried about my sister than myself.

"Che." To my surprise, he looked away from my sister's gaze, shifting it over to Sensei. "Fine." Aki stared at him for a second more, then turned and walked back over to her spot where she was training. "What're you doing?" She ignored him and started her set up again, going back to what she was doing before they arrived. "Oi!" Sensei and I sighed.

"At any rate, they're two of the new additions to the dojo, so be nice, Akira."

"Where're the rest, dad?" Yuji questioned, still watching my sister. "You said that we had four new people."

"They're their siblings, one's a little younger than these two, and one's around fifteenish."

"He's closer to sixteen at this point, really," I commented, getting on my feet. "Aki and I turn 11 next June, and Shouta's turning nine in December."

"Akira here is nine, and I'm ten," Yuji responded, tugging on his little brother's sweater. "We've been training with our dad for pretty much our whole lives, so if you have any questions, you can ask us," He smiled cutely at me. _I might not be into the whole "bad boy" thing, but he's freaking cute!_ I squealed internally. I know, I know, I was technically thirteen in my home world, but I'm nine here, so it's okay. He's only three years younger than me anyway!

"Thanks!" I turned my head to my sister. "Aki, at least say hello to them, what you did before doesn't count!" She rolled her eyes and said a quick hello before switching to the punching bag on her left, doing intervals of punches and basic kicks.

"That reminds me, Aki, Ali," Sensei called, beckoning us over. "I want you two to start using these weights during training, breaks, and at home sometimes, okay?" He lifted up what looked like four pairs of little bracelets. I made a face. "There're one for each limb. We'll start off light, then I'll start adding weight to them as we go." He handed the to us and I blinked. They were surprisingly heavy for their small size.

I glanced over at my sister, who was as blank faced as usual. Would it kill her to show her emotions some time?

XXX

"You're doing it wrong," Akira drawled from his spot on the grass, watching Ali and I spar. "You're supposed to read each other's moves."

"And how are we supposed to do that?" I sighed. He only ever gave vague advice on how to do things. I liked Yuji a lot better than Akira. He gave good advice, liked anime, books and was an awesome cook. "You didn't explain anything."

"Both of you, stop moving and look at each other." I gave him a look. "Oh, just do it!" I faced Ali, looking her over, watching her movement. "Good. Now, analyze each other and slowly move, keeping your eyes on your opponent." I shifted into a more offensive posture and saw Ali do the opposite, moving into defense. "Do that for awhile, and guess where your partner is going to hit. Once you think you got the hang of it, you can start going faster." I immediately started moving faster, not by much, but still faster. The weights slowed us down a lot too, but it helped with our strength and speed.

"So you can be useful after all," I teased, blocking one of Ali's punches.

"What's that supposed to mean?!"

XXX

Yuji watched the three interact with a smile on his face. He hoped that Akira would grow a little if he helped the girls learn, but it didn't seem like it was going well. _On the other hand, at least he's making friends._

The blond haired boy grinned and ran out to join them, joining in on the spar and giving advice.

XXX

 **[A/n]: Wow, that was around 4,000 words! Well, age nine is finally over, well, the next year will be starting in the next chapter.**

 **[Shouta]: There're a lot of us, huh?**

 **[Ali]: Yep! Thanks for reading, and please F/F if you liked it!**

 **[Yuji]: Please review as well, it motivates the author!**


	4. What's Up With Everything?

**[A/n]: Thanks to laiiDh, Guest, and GlaresThatKill for F/F and the reviews! Seriously, it really motivates me to keep writing :)**

 _Chapter Four,_

 _What's Up With Everything?_

 _XXX_

"Alexis, time to get up!"

I groaned, rolling over in my bed. I'd just had the strangest dream, it was as if I'd actually gone into a different world. When I opened my eyes, I was created with the familiar view of my desk which was oddly tidy. I may've kept the rest of my room relatively neat-ish, but my desk had always been a chaotic mess.

I sat up and shook my head, pulling down my shirt that'd been pulled up over my stomach during my sleep.

 ** _You aren't supposed to be here._**

I heard a sharp voice ring through my head, making me confused. Of course I was supposed to be there, it was my home. Oddly enough, it sounded like me, but that wasn't possible… I wasn't thinking that.

I walked down the stairs to find Mama and Papa sitting at the table with Ali- _Wait… Ali?_ What was she doing here? My sister was Andrea, and Ali was from that other world.

"Aki, what's wrong?"

 ** _This isn't real._**

The voice came again, this time louder and more rattling. _No,_ I argued inside myself, _this is where I'm supposed to be. I belong here, this is real!_

I pushed away the odd feeling, smiled at my parents and gave my Mama a hug, being careful not to squeeze too hard because of her swollen belly. She was due to have our little brother in a few months, much to our excitement. He was going to be so spoiled and his name was Raoul.

My Mama and I found it online and loved it instantly. It meant as wise as a wolf which was one of my favourite animals. I'd always loved pretty much any types of animals but foxes, wolves and snakes were probably my favourites. I liked cats a lot too, but they were a bunch of jerks, honestly.

"By the way, Alexis," Papa smiled at me over his coffee that he always had in the morning as he watched the news. "You're dead to me." I froze.

"W-What?" I stammered, almost choking on the cereal that Mama had placed in from of me.

 ** _Don't you remember?_** It asked me, sounding a little sorrowful. **_Don't you remember what happened to you?_**

I started shaking, a small flash of memory flitting across my mind. I could feel wind and smell gasoline, fast food and several other types of city smells. A view of a filthy grey wall came into my sight, the image of my family fading away like it never existed.

"Are you sure we have the right kids?" A male holding a gun asked someone who I assumed was his boss. "They look a little different from our targets."

"Of course they are, you fool." His partner snapped back, kicking me in the side with his foot. I could feel the air leave my lungs with a grunt as he knocked me over, letting me see my little sister, Andrea. She had tear stains down her face along with what looked like dried blood on her lips. She had been beaten, from what I could tell.

Judging by the pain in my body, I'd been beaten too, and there was nothing I could do about it. I was tied up and this was just a memory.

"These freaks are the ones we're looking for. I'm sure that if we demand a ransom, they'll pay up big time," The "boss" cackled, placing the barrel of his gun to my forehead, the smell of metal and gunpowder infiltrating my senses. I could feel the terror and adrenaline run through my body as he leaned forward, sticking his disgusting face near mine. "And I'm sure we could have some fun with them too… I do love to hear them scream." My eyes widened. "These ones aren't as famous as the other girlies but I'm sure we'll get a pretty penny from their parents."

It was so odd to relive a memory. I felt everything yet nothing, leaving me as a mere spectator.

 ** _You died,_** The voice hissed again, sounding much angrier. **_And there was nothing I could do about it._**

What did it mean? This was just my subconscious, right?

 ** _The only thing I was able to do was transfer you to someone who wanted a summon in a world where your counterparts were also in danger._**

 ** _Remember the word "iudicium" and you will know who you must serve._**

This was starting to sound oddly familiar… _Oh no, oh no, no, no, no,_ I panicked.

 ** _It's time to wake up, Aki._**

 _No!_

 ** _Aki._**

 _No, please, no! I had to be dreaming, I live in Canada with my sister Andrea and my name is Alexis-_

 ** _AKI!_**

XXX

Sora stared at the ceiling in his room.

Nothing had ever been the same since Alexis and Andrea got in that accident… or so they called it. He _knew_ it wasn't an accident. Their family had gotten a ransom call and when they finally found the two girls, they were soaked in a pool of their own blood. They were dead for a total of four minutes, but the hospital staff managed to save them in time.

"It was a miracle," They said. "You should be happy they're alive," They said.

Yeah, he was happy. Beyond that, actually.

When he'd heard they'd been kidnapped, his heart dropped into his throat and died. His best friend and her little sister had been captured by wanted criminals who were known for always murdering their victims. He'd sobbed his eyes out when he heard Alexis scream over the recording when the kidnapper supposedly shot her in the arm. Sora cried again, in relief this time when he heard that she was alive in hospital and had woken up.

He felt his heart break when the girl he loved didn't remember him anymore, and Andrea was just as confused. They acted like scared little girls, insisting that they were eight years old. After a few hours, they'd told the doctors that they remembered nothing, and their family was shocked.

 _Of course_ he was relieved when they were out of the woods and back home. Sure. But… Something was off.

He had overheard them refer to themselves as Amu and Ali. When he confronted them about it, they looked so scared that he didn't have the heart to pursue it.

The white haired boy sighed, running a hand through his hair.

Oddly enough, the locket he was planning on giving Alexis was gone and a picture of him and her was in its place. He looked all over his house and in his room, even outside, but he never found it.

Sora sat up and walked to the stairs, going down them and finding his shoes at the front door.

"Sora? Where're you going?" His mom called from the living room, not very concerned. He could handle himself, but with all the crimes that'd been happening lately, it was better safe than sorry.

"I'm going over to Lexie's house," He mumbled, leaving the house and slamming the door behind him.

Sora jogged down the street before coming to her house. She was only a few doors down.

Their story was that of the stereotypical childhood friends. She was a girl, he was a boy and their parents were close friends so they grew up together. He fell for her but she never noticed, going at her own pace and tugging him along with her with that charming and so disarming grin of hers. Oh, how he missed her smile.

Entering the house, he was greeted by their mother, who had taken time off of work for the maternity leave along with husband, who had left because of the incident. He couldn't quite go back to work yet.

"The girls are upstairs, as always," She told him with a small, weary smile, rubbing her stomach absentmindedly. He nodded and went up, stopping at Alexis's door.

 _How many times have I been here,_ He mused, looking at the warm beige walls with the white trim. _And how many times have I cried here these past few months?_ He wondered.

 _"I think he knows…"_ Sora heard a muffled voice quiver from behind the door. He recognized it as Andrea's and leaned closer to the door, placing an ear on it. He heard a soft sigh.

 _"He's pretty smart… It's only a matter of time,"_ Alexis's voice murmured drearily. _"I just hope we don't break his heart in the process. You saw the way he looked at us, especially me."_ She paused and Sora heard a little squeak, most likely the sound of the office chair in her room. _What does she mean? Break my heart? It's only a matter of time?_ He heard the bed creak again, probably Andrea bouncing on it.

 _"He loved her,"_ He heard Andrea agree sadly, sounding sorrowful. _"I wonder how he'll react when he know she's gone forever, Amu-nee."_ "nee"? Wasn't that Japanese?

 _"When?"_ The older girl repeated slowly. _"Are you planning on telling him, Ali?"_

 _"Yeah. It's not fair that he thinks that this Alexis person is gonna come back when she's switched places with us."_

 _"I feel bad for them, in a way. They lost four years. Then again, we're thirteen now, instead of nine."_

 _"We picked up all those big words pretty fast, probably because we're using their brain now."_

 _"I hope Rei-san will let us come home again soon… I miss Shouta and Shisui-nii."_ There was a long silence and what sounded like a choked sob.

 _"I wanna go home…"_

 _"I know… I do too,"_ Her voice cracked and Sora could almost see the tears starting to pool in her eyes and it made his heart ache. _"But until we complete all these… achievement things, we can't go home. The faster we finish, the faster we can go home and see Mama, Papa, Shouta and Shisui-nii." Achievements? What are they talking about?_

Sora pressed closer to the door, but when he did, he fell forward and the door flung open, revealing the girls. The white haired boy groaned from the floor, placing a hand on his nose which he'd somehow managed to fall on. The girls stood up with sharp gasps.

"S-Since when were you standing there?" "Alexis" stuttered, looking scared. Sora looked up at the girl with blonde hair and hazel eyes that leaned more toward green, saying nothing. "Answer me." She ordered weakly.

"Since you started talking about how smart I was," He mumbled, looking down again. "What did you mean by "She's gone forever"?" The girls looked at each other with sad expressions. "You can't hide anything from me now, Amu, Ali, or whatever your names are. Who's this Rei person, and what did you mean that you "can't go home?""

"…It's a long story, so you might want to sit down." Andrea gestured at the office chair. Sora shook his head.

"No, tell me now."

XXX

"Aki, for crying out loud, wake up already!" Akira shook the green haired girl awake with a start. "Finally," He grumbled, "Mom wants to know if you're staying over again, she's gonna start making dinner soon."

Aki and Ali had gotten a lot closer with the two boys to the point where they basically lived at each other's houses. Ali tended to stay at home more than her sister, though. Aki already roamed the streets at night and felt more relaxed in the company of the two, so she was usually with one of them or Ali. Aki would normally sleep with the two at night or come in the middle of the night and hang out. Both of their families were fine with it and Aki's parents were relieved that they would generally know where their daughter was.

The two parents were slowly allowing the twins more and more freedom, letting them wander around on their own, do shopping and whatnot.

Also, as it turned out, Akira wasn't actually as rude as he seemed, he just lacked social skills, like Aki. He was overly blunt, but Aki appreciated that immensely, regardless of the large amount of times they would get into arguments or bicker. If anything, it made her feel more at ease with him. Aki wasn't that fond of lying, even if it was white lies. If something tasted bad, looked bad or sounded bad, she wanted to know. When she wanted an accurate opinion on something she drew or cooked, she asked Akira.

Aki was trying to get better at cooking in this life than she was in her old one, but being ten, almost 11, made it difficult with her almost non-existent fine motor skills. It also made her much clumsier with a pencil, which frustrated her immensely the first time she tried drawing in her own body. She made it her mission to become better at drawing, cooking, sports, music, and becoming stronger to protect those she loved, all of which she felt she failed at in her past life.

"Yeah…" She said, out of it from her dream. _A summon?_ She didn't really remember much, but that part stuck out in her brain. "I'll stay over tonight." _What was that? I feel like I remembered something, but that's impossible, right?_ She mused, growing in thought, ignoring Akira. _I suppose since this is the real Aki's brain, I could remember something…_ "Oh well, whatever."

"Whatever what?"

"Nothing," She replied, stretching her arms and legs. "Let's go see Yuji, I bet he's doing something interesting."

"More interesting than you sleeping on my bed for two hours, that's for sure."

"Watch it!"

XXX

"Onee-chan, wasn't that orange haired guy so cool?!" Shouta gushed for the thousandth time that day. My god, if I'd known it'd get that bad, I would've asked his name and address so that he could meet him again.

"Yeah, yeah, he was cool."

"Kiki-nee, you're not even listening!" He whined. Oh yeah, did I mention that Ali's nickname for me caught on? Well, it did. Now Yuji, Akira and the rest of my siblings called me Kiki, much to my annoyance.

"I hear you, you're talking about that guy who played soccer with you all day four months ago, right?"

"Yeah! He was so awesome! He was all like, zoom, swoosh, bam!" He made accompanying sound effects with the hand motions he was making.

"He was pretty cool, wasn't he?" I hummed, thinking back.

"Yeah!" He agreed again enthusiastically. "I wanna be just like him when I grown up!" I smiled at his dream. It wasn't the worst thing that he could want to be.

"I'm sure you'll be able to do it, Shouta," I tousled his hair and stood up. "Now, what do you want for lunch? Okaa-chan said they wouldn't be back from the doctor's until three."

Oh, another thing I forgot to mention.

We discovered that Midori was eight weeks pregnant. Currently, she was at five months since it was November, and her belly was getting pretty swollen. She was getting cranky and had a lot of mood swings as well. They were finding out the gender today and going shopping for some baby clothes.

This meant that we were going to move soon, which I wasn't all that happy about, but I would deal with it. It wasn't like we were moving far away, either. They'd already made a deal with the people that lived in the house they wanted years ago, so after Midori had the baby, it was all ours.

It just meant that I would have to start cleaning my room, which was pretty messy right now.

"Let's have grilled cheese!"

 _Fun._

XXX

I woke up from my afternoon nap by a shrill scream that came from upstairs.

My parents had recently started going out more often, leaving me with my younger sibling, Shouta, on weekends. Ali went to some photo developing studio with Shisui every other day so I was normally alone. The past few weeks, I'd been drawing, reading and cooking almost non-stop, along with singing. I'd always loved singing. I guess it was passed on from my family, who almost always had the radio or a CD on in the car.

I touched my silver locket lightly. I was still homesick, but the pain dulled a little during the day. It only came out at night when I was completely alone, which was why I didn't like being left to my own thoughts.

I sighed and went upstairs to kill/capture what was most likely a giant spider. I didn't particularly like or dislike them but the rest of my family was absolutely terrified of them, so I was designated as the bug killer.

"Alright, where is it?" I groaned, opening Shouta's door to find him on the floor staring at thin air.

"N-N-Nee-chan!" He stammered, pointing at the spot he was looking at. "W-What is that?" I frowned, moving into the room.

"What is what?"

"Eh?" He glanced at me in confusion. "Can't you see it?"

"See what?" I was getting really puzzled now. "There's nothing there, Shouta."

 _"Ordinary people can't see us, Shouta-kun!"_ I heard a tiny voice chirp, making me whip my head around.

"What on earth?" I looked around, turning in a circle. "I swear I heard a voice just now." I mused.

 _"Ohh, she can hear me? That means she has a hearts' egg waiting to hatch!"_ It chirped again. I shook my head.

"I must be going crazy if I'm hearing little voices. Maybe I'm not getting enough sleep." I took one more glance around before heading to the door. "I'm gonna go back down and finish taking my nap, call me if you see the bug again. Or scream, either works," I snickered and he blushed.

"It wasn't a bug, Kiki-nee!"

"Mhm," I hummed, going down the stairs. "I'll be downstairs." As I walked down, there was one sentence that I missed. It was a very important one. One that would've clued me in on where I was much sooner, if only I'd stayed long enough to listen.

 _"What do you mean, you're a Shugo chara?"_

XXX

I yawned, listening to the show as I read a book on the Hibiki family couch. My head was on Yuji's lap, who was currently watching a TV documentary about penguins. The narrator's voice was a warm monotone, making me sleepy. I plopped my book on the floor and cuddled up against Yuji, who chuckled. At this point, he was used to this. It seemed that I was very prone to falling sleep at any time of day and I ate large amounts of food. I could probably easily eat an elephant in one go.

I guess I could attribute it to the crazy amount of growing I was doing…

I hummed contentedly when he started to play with my hair. He'd held a fascination for it since I'd told him it was natural. Now he would play with it every chance he got, braiding it or just touching it. Yuji and I didn't really speak in each other's company, we mainly just did things next to each other, which was rather rare for people our age. It was a comfortable silence.

When I was with Akira, on the other hand, it ended up in arguing and competition. Oh well, I guess I couldn't have it both ways.

It didn't start that way, though. It took a lot of coaxing from Yuji to let him even get close to me, let alone touch me.

 _XXX_

 _"C'mon, Aki-chan," Yuji smiled charmingly at me and gestured to his lunchbox. "Let's have lunch together."_

 _"No." I grunted, not even glancing in his direction._

 _"Onee-chan," Ali sighed, sitting beside him, underneath the large tree that provided a large amount of shade during the hot summer. I hated summer with a passion because of the heat, even though I was born in it. Funny, huh? Fittingly, my name was Aki, which meant fall, my favourite season._

 _I continued to do pushups on the outside portion of the dojo to try to complete an achievement. I had to do 100 pushups in a row before I would gain the "Progressing Well" level in strength. So far, it wasn't going well. I could usually go up to around 48 before my arms turned to jelly, and this time was no different._

 _"Damn it," I cursed, forgetting that a almost-nine-year old probably wouldn't say that around an adult. Luckily for me, Sensei was looking the other way._

 _I laid on the ground with a sigh, closing my eyes against the bright sunlight. It didn't work too well until something blocked the light, or someone._

 _"Aki-chan," Yuji called, I could hear him kneel down next to me. "Aren't you tired?"_

 _"I'm fine," I mumbled, and I opened my eyes to see his face hovering directly above mine with a worried expression._

 _"If you don't drink any water, you'll pass out," He fussed as I sat up, seeing the amount of sweat that was on my body. "Drink this." He handed me a plastic water bottle, which I stared at._

 _"Those things are really bad for the environment, you know." He chuckled and pulled out one of his own. "What?"_

 _"You're pretty cute, Aki-chan." Ali pouted over from the tree she was under, getting up and jogging over to us._

 _"No fair," She sulked, dropping down beside us, carrying our lunches. "Why does only Kiki get complimented?"_

 _"You're cute too, Ali-chan," Yuji tried to appease her, making her blink. I never did that kind of thing for her, so she must've found it rather odd. "Anyway, we should get eating before the break's up." I grabbed my lunch from Ali and opened it, looking at the sandwich I'd made and the various fruits._

 _"Oh yeah," Ali munched on a carrot as she chatted with the blond boy. "Where's Akira?"_

 _"He's visiting a friend today," Sensei answered absently from our left. He was reading some book about bulldogs. "He said something about winning?" I caught Yuji staring at me and I twitched._

 _"What."_

 _"I was wondering what you used to dye your hair," He responded, still looking at my green locks. It'd been a source of complete confusion for me, seeing as green wasn't a natural hair colour, but months later, no roots had shown, although my hair had grown very long. It was down around my waist but I planned to cut it soon. "It doesn't look like it damaged your hair at all."_

 _"It's natural," I answered. "Why, are you a hairdresser or something?" He grinned at me._

 _"No, but I want to be in the future. Your hair has really nice volume," He mused, making me inch backwards. Okaaaay._

 _XXX_

 _"Aki-chan, can I touch your hair?"_

 _"No."_

 _"Pleaaase?"_

 _"Nope."_

 _"Pretty please?"_

 _"No way."_

 _"Akiiiii-chaaaaaan," He made puppy dog eyes at me, but thanks to Shouta, I was immune._

 _"Yujiiiiiiiiiii," I mimicked, stretching out. Today was our day to work on our stamina by doing a lot of running around town. Sensei started getting really lazy, so he would make us buy his groceries at some point during our run as well._

 _"Oi, brat," Speak of the devil. "Buy the things on this list too, and don't forget to wear your weights again this time." Ah, yes, the weights, the bane of my existence. Sure, it helped my endurance and strength, but I was always off balance because of those stupid things. Not that I was bitter or anything._

 _"Osu."_

 ** _[Quest: Buy Groceries- Rewards: 13 EXP, +7 trust, +1 Strength, +1 Intelligence]_**

 _XXX_

 _I punched Akira in the gut and saw him go flying across the room. He let out a grunt when he hit the floor but easily sprung back up and moved into a defensive posture, arms raised to deflect any hits I tried on him._

 _He only had 13 HP left in his fight bar, I noted, glancing just above his head where "LVL 6, FRIEND/ALLY" floated. The fight bar was essentially what amount of energy a person could use for a fight so that they didn't pass out. Once you got rid of all their fight bar HP, you won the match and the rewards._

 _Seeing a weak point in my stance, Akira rushed forward, planting a hard pick to my knee, throwing me off balance. He threw a punch to my face but I blocked it, returning it with another punch to the gut and a kick to his face. I watched his HP slide over to zero, telling me that I won._

 ** _[Spar Won- Rewards: 28 EXP, $4]_**

 ** _[Level Up! You are now at level seven! You have three points to distribute]_**

 _The notifications popped up as the world froze. The quests and notifications left the world alone, but the level ups started to freeze it when I had points to distribute. I could choose which of my seven attributes to level up, my stamina and health, or my abilities. I clicked my character page, which was pretty much the same._

 ** _Name: Hinamori Aki_**

 ** _Level: Seven_**

 ** _Charm: 10_**

 ** _Intelligence: 16_**

 ** _Strength: 13_**

 ** _Speed: 10_**

 ** _Defence: 5_**

 ** _Attack: 9_**

 ** _Luck: 10_**

 ** _HP/STAMINA: 36/3_**

 ** _Abilities:_**

 ** _Eloquent Liar: Allows user to lie better than the average human- Level 1._**

 ** _House Keeper: Increases ability to clean, cook and do other domestic skills- Level 3._**

 _I supposed my abilities weren't all that great, but they were kinda useful, I guess._

 _I clicked to update my defence by two and attack by one, then un-paused the world, allowing myself a sense of accomplishment._

 _"Alright, that's enough sparring for now," Sensei called from the side of the dojo. "Take a fifteen-minute break, then we'll start working on other things." Ah, yes. The "other things" he was talking about was actually just talent training._

 _For who-knows-what reason, Sensei had decided that he wanted to make us into a bunch of freaking assassins. Okay, maybe he didn't word it like that, but that was essentially what he was doing._

 _Etiquette lessons, seduction, how to eat properly, how to throw a dagger while doing a curtsy, how to manipulate people, how to act, the list went on and on. I wasn't sure that that man should've been entrusted with small children._

 _"Kiki, can I sit with you?" Yuji sat down beside me, despite my obvious "Go away" face._

 _"Kiki?" I repeated, not pleased with this turn of events._

 _"Yeah, your sister calls you that, right?" The blond grinned at me. Ali always went on and on about how gorgeous they were, but the two brothers looked average to me. Well, she_ was _boy crazy. "It's cute, it suits you." I sighed, realizing there was no way out of this._

 _I watched him open his lunch, which always looked amazing. I wondered if one of his parents made it._

 _Yuji noticed me staring at his lunch. He picked up a piece of chicken with his chopsticks and leaned closer to me._

 _"Say "ahhh"," He looked at me expectantly with a smile. I was hungry, so I opened my mouth and let him feed me._

 _"This is good!" I exclaimed, surprised at the quality. It tasted like the really expensive pre-spiced and marinated chicken you had to buy at a special shop downtown._

 _"Really? I'm glad, I made it myself," He admitted, rubbing the back of his neck with his left hand. "I'm still a beginner, but I really like cooking."_

 _"It's amazing," I forgot about my hostile front I was trying to keep up and stared at the 10-year-old. What amazing skill for a 10-year-old, I thought. It was better than some adults, what was he, a genius? "I thought you wanted to be a hairdresser,"_

 _"Oh, I do." He agreed quickly, waving his hands back and forth. "I just thought that I could do some cooking on the side too, since it's so much fun." I smiled. Maybe I didn't have to stay all that hostile towards him, we were going to be together a lot, and I was going to be stuck in that world for a long time anyway, it wouldn't kill me to make a friend. "Does that sound stupid?"_

 _"No, not at all."_

 _XXX_

"WHY DID I LET YOU CONVINCE ME ANOTHER ONE WAS A GOOD IDEA?!" Midori shrieked in the hospital, breathing hard.

My mother had been in labour for a few hours now and she was getting frustrated. According to the doctors, they didn't want her to start pushing yet and I could see the strain on her face.

"I feel like I'm crapping out a watermelon!" She yelped again, making Shisui look incredibly uncomfortable. The only one not in the birth room was Shouta, who was currently in the waiting room after telling us that he didn't want to experience the miracle of birth, not that I could blame him. Ali and I were holding her hands, which was a big mistake. God, I thought she was going to break my fingers off.

"Smile for the camera, dear!" My father, unfazed by anything. He held the camcorder this time around, making sure to tape Ali and I as well.

"You're telling her to smile in the middle of having a baby, when she's having contractions and a ton of other uncomfortable things?" I questioned, tilting my head. "That doesn't sound very realist- _ah_!" I sucked in a breath, biting my lip when my mother squeezed my hand again. _Crap, crap, craaaap, that hurts!_

XXX

Later that night, we all came home exhausted. My new little sister had taken a total of 13 hours to come out. Shorter than some labours but still a very long time. I had to carry in Shouta while Shisui carried Ali. Okaa-chan was dead tired but looked happy to have her little girl, who she decided to name "Ami". Funny.

Aki, Ali, Ami.

Ki, Li, Mi.

K, L, M.

Alphabetical order. My parents thought they were geniuses.

 _Oh well,_ I smiled at my family the next morning, watching them "ooh" and "Ah" over the new little girl who cooed back at them. _I guess it's kind of clever._

I slid over to my brother, who was recording, obviously, and looked at Ami. She was a small pudgy lump of flesh, not very pretty at all. I never really understood why people would say that babies were cute or beautiful when they weren't. I bet she'd be good looking in the future though, everyone else in the family was. _Ami,_ I pondered, the name echoing in my head for some reason. _Why does it sound so familiar?_

 _XXX_

March 21st, my little sister, Ami, was born, starting the chain of events that would eventually lead me to the guardians.

XXX

 **[A/n]: March break, YAY!**

 **[Shisui]: Please F/F if you liked it, and reviews are always appreciated!**


	5. What's Up With Everything?-Part Two!

_Chapter Five_

 _What's up with everything, Part two!_

 _XXX_

Now only two weeks away from starting school, Aki and Ali had gone through a ton of prep, along with Aki ending up as Ami's primary caretaker when Midori was tired (Ali wasn't good with babies or small children in general. Shouta was okay, but not kids younger than six). All Ami did was eat, sleep, cry, poop, and repeat. The only time she got away from "preparing for school" (She already knew all of the things they were trying to teach her, except for Japanese history) and caring for her siblings was when she was at the dojo.

On that particular day, Aki was reaching the large doors, which she'd found out were weighted, not locked- so the average person couldn't get in- and she noticed several people loitering around the entrance.

Undeterred, she continued to the doors and pushed them open under the interested and curious eyes of the tough looking males beside the doors. She had to wonder if her sister had come before these men, as she would have definitely been too uncomfortable to enter.

Inside of the dojo, a ton of shoes were laying all over the front room in no particular order, much to Aki's annoyance. _There were racks for a reason,_ She growled inwardly, placing her shoes on said racks and moving the others, which seemed to be mens' shoes for the most part. Aki noticed one pair of women's shoes, but those looked like Shinji's wife's shoes.

Making her way through the dojo, she saw quite a few grown males in groups, chatting amongst themselves and following her with their eyes.

"Hey, girlie," One of them came up to her. He had tattoos all over his body and was wearing leather, the stereotypical hoodlum. "This isn't a place for kids- Hey!" Aki completely ignored him, seeing as he had no further use to her once she'd read the tag above his head.

 **"LVL 3, ?"**

 _And I don't suppose this power of mine would be convenient enough and tell me who they are._ She sighed, blowing a back long strand of her green hair that was loosely tied at her shoulder.

"Oi, old man," She called, sliding the door open into the training room, only to be met with the largest group of what looked like…Gangsters, she'd ever seen. All the attention was on her, _again_.

"Kid, you really need to-" The guy from before. Aki rolled her eyes and moved through the crowd of people, occasionally asking them to move, avoiding the man behind her and reaching her teacher.

"Dude." She gestured at all the people around her, much to his amusement. "Who are these people, and where's Ali?"

"You're not concerned about _why_ they're here?" Her teacher raised an eyebrow, seeing the man from before finally catch up and place a hand on the brown eyed girl's shoulder.

"Boss, I'm sorry, I don't know who let her in, but-" Aki raised an eyebrow back at Shinji when she heard the other male call him "Boss".

"It's okay, Jiro," He assured him, pulling Aki closer to him. "This brat is one of the new recruits I told you about."

"…Are you guys criminals?"

"She and her siblings have been training here for awhile while you guys were away in Osaka." Shinji continued, ignoring the green haired girl. "They've gotten pretty strong, if I say so myself."

 _"Heh?"_ Aki twitched, not liking all the attention she was getting from the men in the room.

 _"She's pretty cute,"_ One commented.

 _"I wonder if she can actually throw a punch properly."_

 _"I bet you she'll cry the first time she gets hit."_

"You bet what?" She hissed, glaring in the direction the statement came from. "I'll bet I can kick your butt from here to next week, you tomato."

 _"Tomato?"_

"She hates tomatoes," Akira answered the unspoken question, coming from out of nowhere. "And trust me, this thing won't cry when you hit her, I've tried." Aki smirked.

"Yeah, miserably."

"Stop that, you two," Yuji scolded, coming out from behind Jiro. "And Dad, let her go before she bites your arm off." Complying with his son's request, Shinji let Aki go and she went and stood next to the two brothers.

"Where's Ali?"

"She's outside by the tree," The older of the two blondes replied, wanting to give her a comforting hug, but knowing she wouldn't appreciate it in front of so many people. "She got all jittery when she saw these guys."

"She probably ran away because it stinks in here." Akira quipped, gesturing to the amount of bodies in the room. There had to be at least twenty people crowded in one corner, way too much for Aki's liking.

XXX

"So, let me get this straight," Aki mused, thinking over what they had told her. The men were now all sitting/laying down on one side of the room. "You're all a bunch of Yakuza from the lighting clan-"

"Thunder," Yuji corrected gently, sitting with her and Ali in front of all of them.

"-And you were in Osaka for a year or so for…" She eyed them suspiciously, "Business… And this is your home-base."

"Yes." One of them answered. They'd all been gathered in the training room. There weren't as many as she'd originally thought, maybe around thirty-ish.

"The old man's your leader?" She asked, referring to Shinji.

"That's right."

"…Seriously?" Ali spared a glance at her Sensei, not believing that such a scrawny man could be the leader of a gang.

"Watch it, brat." She glanced over at the Yakuza, or gangsters, who looked pretty intimidating when they observed her. A few of them looked like they would get beaten up at the drop of a hat. Their levels ranged from 2-15, much to her interest. She still hadn't been able to figure out Shinji's level, but she assumed it was around the twenties. "We didn't tell you guys at first because we didn't want to scare you off."

"Does your mom know about this?" Ali questioned towards the two boys.

"Yeah."

"Yep."

"What would happen if I called the police on all of you?" Ali wondered, making a few of them pale.

"They would probably go to jail." Aki answered, starting to play with her sister's hair.

"You're probably right."

XXX

Getting used to the men always in our dojo took time, but my sister was exceptionally fast at adjusting to things.

"You guys…" She growled in irritation upon entering the training room, shadows from her long bangs covering her eyes. _"Put your shoes on THE DAMN RACKS!"_ She ordered, making all of them jump to their feet and rush past her to do it. After a week, she'd already managed to train the "bad-ass" tough guys to clean. Go figure. "And _why_ are there wrappers and pop cans on the ground? Clean them up!"

The best part was that they all looked absolutely terrified of her the first time she shouted at them. Even the level 15 guy, the giant buff one, followed her orders.

"Oh, Onee-chan," I giggled from the side of the room with Yuji, who was still as cute as ever. "Don't be too hard on them." She rolled her eyes and walked over to our weights, which had been getting heavier every time.

Aki had been in a sour mood lately because Mama had been making her get up and take care of Ami to the point where she probably thought that my sister was her mom. Aki was having problems with the "manners" and "Charming" classes that we had, which now made sense, considering what business our teacher was in.

"I'll call them out on it every time, and they _still_ don't put their shoes or garbage away. This is worse than a pig sty!" She exclaimed, clicking the weights in place on her wrists and ankles. "Then again, pigs are very neat animals."

"Really?" The now almost 11-year-old Yuji hummed in interest. He was taking a break from the sets we were doing. He excelled in pretty much everything, which frustrated Aki to the point of no return, she was determined to catch up to him, and only got more fired up when he beat her in the spars.

I was still the weakling, compared to the others.

I was strong in terms of defense, but I had no way of attacking anyone. I was the exact opposite of Aki. I was going above and beyond in the classes she failed in, luckily for my bruised ego. _Although, it was like that in my old world too…_

"Hey, Kiki," Akira called from outside, having finished chatting with a few of the guys. "Come spar with me for awhile."

"Let me warm up first."

Akira. What to say about him… Well, he was definitely the strongest out of all of us, but he was a jerk to me most of the time. Kiki didn't seem to mind him that much, taunting him back and beating him up in spars, but as cute as he was, I wasn't all that fond of him.

I preferred Yuji, who, funnily enough, was the kinder of the two, despite his mean appearance. His gelled up mohawk hair and sharp eyes gave him a "delinquent" look, but he was the one who broke up the fights and gave advice. Such a sweet kid.

I watched Aki stretch for a moment before murmuring,

"Menu."

I glanced over my current quests for the moment, seeing "Increase your ability to attack", "Beat Aki in a fight", and "Grab a bag of Rice for Mom".

I currently had only one ability, but it was very useful. I had the ability "Charm", which allowed me to convince others to do the things I wanted them to, or make them grow fond or less wary of me faster. I certainly got a lot more deals and free snacks from the boys downtown, and a lot of the workers. I giggled a little at how easy it was to get my way now. I just couldn't wait until I was thirteen, so it wouldn't be weird if I wore makeup. That way, people would be able to distinguish between my sister and I. The boys and our siblings were pretty good at it (Haru-nii and our littlest cousin included), but everyone else got us mixed up. The gangsters at our dojo could usually tell by which one was scolding them.

 _I wonder…_

"Shortcuts!" A smaller but more detailed menu popped up in front of my eyes, showing me shortcuts to the commands we had learned. "To use another language, simply think that you want to speak in that particular one, and you will be able to use it." I read aloud. "Say "inventory" to get directly to the inventory instead of calling out "menu". You may store things in the inventory by tapping them twice in the same spot. This includes: Clothing, food, water, objects, money, or quest items. You may also keep one animal, but it must be tamed." There was a map that I could call out too, one that showed the positions of my friends and family so far, as well as where I'd been before. My grin grew wider. Aki was going to be soooooooo jealous!

Switching my gaze over to her, I stood up, the frozen world fascinating me. I could see all of the leaves and any little particles of dirt and bugs all floating in the air. It amazed me that I could freeze the entire world, with just one little word.

I touched my sister's cheek and looked at her, counting her freckles and poking her earrings on the top parts of her ear, looking over her developing body. We were going through puberty for a second time, which was absolutely awful. I hoped that the uterus monster would stay away for a few more years yet.

This world was strange.

We were supposedly in one of Aki's favourite anime/manga, but nothing looked animated. Mama didn't have a black outline around her eyes or clothing, nor did Akira have a flat body. There were no sparks when my sister and I glared at each other over who would get the remote, and there were no hearts floating in the air when my parents made up after a silly fight.

Besides ourselves, we hadn't found any odd hair colours, magical girls, terrorists or portals to other worlds. We hadn't found ghosts yet either. It may have been because this was the calm before the storm and we were supposed to get adjusted, but it'd been almost a year, starting in around May. We'd missed an entire school year, but we passed a test that'd been sent home, so we could continue onto the next grade, grade five. I wasn't too excited about having to explain to a bunch of cursing prepubescents why I couldn't remember anything.

I couldn't remember anything… Yeah. That's what we'd been telling all of them, and it weighed heavy on my mind. I felt bad for deceiving them. Technically, we couldn't remember anything about them or the car crash, since we weren't there, but there was something else I couldn't remember.

What happened in our own world?

I tried asking Aki, but she stayed silent, and gripped onto the shiny silver locket she'd gotten from Rei. She did that when she was upset or thinking about something, even though she doesn't realize she does that. I'm a lot more observant that I let on.

She showed me the letter after I found her in tears in her room, crying alone again. She did that a lot. I'd go upstairs on one of the rare nights when she was home, and I'd open the door to her crying. I think Akira saw her once, because after he went upstairs, he came back down with an expression that was a mixture of shocked and worried.

"Unpause," I said, as light as a sigh, and suddenly I was back on the ground, sitting with the son of a Yakuza boss, the world humming and buzzing with as much activity as it was before.

 _Oh well, I'll figure out this world eventually._

XXX

"Oh my goodness, everyone, line up on the steps properly- No, I want Shisui in the back, you're too tall!" A sigh. "Aki-chan, Ali-chan, you go into the back too, you're too tall."

Our mother wanted a picture of the family the morning before school, which I wasn't all the pleased about. I was tired and wanted to get the day over with instead of just standing around. I would normally be at the Dojo by now, learning how to manipulate people with Sensei. Apparently I was a natural.

"Alright, everyone smile- Aki-chan!" My mother frowned, much to Shisui's amusement. He was in high school now, turning sixteen the next coming year. He was still into recording everything, and left the camera on the majority of the time. Where he kept all of those videos, I'd never know. "You have to smile like you mean it!" My mother ordered, amber eyes glinting. I rolled my eyes at the camera, making Shisui snicker, but did as my mother asked and smiled nicely for the camera.

 _FLASH!_

And just like that, my morning torture was over, and my mother -I still hadn't decided yet on what I was going to call her… Probably mom- shuffled all of us off the step and ushered us out onto the street, Ami on her back.

XXX

 _Midori handed me the baby in the strange carry on basket-thing adults use to cart them around, making me cringe._

 _"Oh, uh… No thanks." I gingerly placed it on the floor and pushed the baby towards her, making Akira, who was playing a video game with me, snicker. Midori sighed and picked up the basket again and placed it on my lap. I sent her a weird look. "Why are you giving me this… Tiny creature." Another snort from Akira._

 _"I'm going to go out for some shopping," She said, running a hand through her hair, making sure not to hit her glasses. "I need you to watch her for me, Aki-chan. All you have to do is sterilize the bottle and the instructions for the formula are on the back."_

 _"…What about Shisui?"_

 _"He's at the photographer's meet up. I told him to watch for his phone, so if you need anything, just call him or Papa." She seemed exhausted, so I agreed, much to her obvious relief. Ami wasn't a quiet baby. "You know how to hold her and take care of her, right?"_

 _"Yeah. Go and relax for awhile… Mom." I still wasn't sure I was going to keep calling her that, but for now, it worked. She gave me a small smile and nodded._

 _"I should be back in an hour or two."_

 _XXX_

 _"It's crying again," Akira commented, eyeing Ami. We were only half an hour through, and she's already cried six times. I sighed and picked her up out of the basket again, singing softly to her and rocking her. She seemed to like it when I sang to her, and the other times she calmed down, but not this time._

 _"Is she hungry?" I wondered, glancing at the clock. 12:47._

 _"Maybe she crapped her diaper."_

 _"I doubt it, she doesn't look icky," I gently rocked her again, slightly enjoying the feeling of warmth coming from her. "I think she wants her bottle, could you hold her while I get it ready?" He nodded and held her, a little awkwardly because he wasn't used to her._

 _I jumped up and boiled the water, washing my hands as well. After a minute, I added the formula and waited for it to cool, dripping a few drops of it onto my wrist to make sure. I quickly poured it into the baby bottle and shook it before returning to the living room, where Akira was starting to get antsy._

 _I took her from him and gently placed the bottle to her mouth, watching her suck it out._

 _"At this rate, you'll be a mom before you even have a kid," He commented quietly, watching her as well. I chuckled softly, not wanting to startle Ami, she was staring up at me with big amber eyes._

 _"Yeah, then I could get married, and fall in love after that," I mused, glancing up at him bemusedly. He smiled back at me for a moment before catching himself and returning to his neutral face with a slight blush. I laughed at him, making him scowl at me._

 _We never did finish the video game._

 _XXX_

 _Midori opened the door with a smile, ready to apologize to the two for leaving them alone with Ami for so long. She'd only meant to stay out an hour, but it'd turned out to become four, and she met up with the rest of her family on the way home._

 _"Aki-chan, Akira-kun, I'm sorry-" She was stopped by the sight of the two cuddled up together on the couch, Ami sleeping quietly in her cradle. Aki had her head on Akira's shoulder, both looked tired out. The TV was still on, the video game music still playing, the game paused._

 _"Awww," Shisui cooed, seeing them as well. "They're so cute together." Ali agreed and "aw"ed all over them, Shouta just nodding in agreement. Tsumugu was filled with what he liked to call, "Fatherly Rage" when he saw a boy cuddling his "baby girl" on the couch. Midori shushed him and ordered Shisui to take pictures of the two._

 _"Already on it!" He gave her a thumbs up, obviously recording everything, as always._

 _"Shut up…" Aki groaned, half asleep. She pressed into Akira, searching for warmth, only getting squeals from the two females watching._

 _"I'm sooooo going to show this to her future boyfriend," Ali giggled, already planning for the future._

 _"BOYFRIEND?!"_

 _"SHHHH!"_

 _XXX_

Aki sighed, walking to school with her siblings, who were tugging her along excitedly. Shouta, in particular, was excited, happy to have his sister back to school with him, unlike most boys. He was very fond of her, so he never had a problem with seeming like a "sister's boy".

Aki smiled at them, hoping that she, Ali, Shouta, and Akira would all be together in the same class. It probably wouldn't happen, but…

She was allowed to hope, wasn't she?

 _XXX_

 **Thanks for reading! Please F/F if you like it, and reviews are very much appreciated!**


	6. What's Up With Everything?-Part Three!

**_Thanks to skittles126 and Black konako for F/F!_**

 _Chapter Six,_

 _What's Up With Everything- Part Three!_

 _XXX_

It was even worse than what she imagined.

She was stuck in a class with all the popular kids (not including Akira), and nobody she knew. Even the kids from her supposed past classes barely recognized her, since she'd been away for almost a year. There was a little bit of a kerfuffle around her in the morning, but by lunch break, they were all back in their cliques, chatting away about the newest fashion trends. She had to wonder where all those former "friends" her parents talked about went.

"I should've asked to be homeschooled," Aki muttered, pulling out her lunch from the red backpack she was given for school. Black for boys, red for girls. She would've appreciated the black one more, since red made her hair stand out even more than it already did.

Aki stood up and wandered out of the classroom, munching on an apple while she looked for a quiet place to sit, or her siblings.

She noticed Shouta outside on the soccer field playing with his buddies, and Ali, who had already blended in with the rest of the school, chatting with some girls. She decided not to bother them and just wander, learning where everything was.

Eventually, she came across a spot on the edge of the school property that she liked. It was shaded from the sunlight by the trees and had a few large rocks she could sit on in peace.

"Kiki," A voice from behind her called cheerfully. "How do you like your classes so far?" Turning around, she saw Yuji, who looked like he was in a good mood.

"Awful," She groaned, sitting down on the rock behind her, placing her lunch beside her. "I know nobody, and they're all a bunch of dummies. They didn't even know what 6x6 was, for god's sake."

"I'm sure it wasn't that bad," He hummed, sitting down on the rock next to her. "You just haven't adjusted yet."

"And what about you? Where are all of your friends?" He laughed sheepishly, making Aki raise an eyebrow.

"Well, ah, people seem to think I'm scary, for some reason," He said, rubbing the back of his neck. "Most of them won't even come near me, but I have a few friends who aren't scared of me." He smiled softly at me. "Like you."

"Well, your problem is that you glare at people when you're nervous, and you look that _that._ " He looked offended.

"What do you mean, I look like _that_?"

"Well, y'know, the whole "I only wear black" thing, the mohawk, the blond hair, blue eyes, you have sharp eyes, which makes it look like you're glaring at people…" I trailed off. "Do I need to go on?"

"No," He pouted, puffing out his cheeks, much like I did when I was sulking. I giggled at his face.

"Anyway, don't worry about me, I'll be fine," I smiled at him, brushing my hair over my left shoulder absentmindedly. "I'm used to it by now." He frowned, not looking happy about my answer.

"But-" I gave him a look.

"I'll be fine, I promise, dork," I teased. His face flushed and he pouted again. "You can start worrying about me when your social skills reach the level of your cooking."

"I don't think that'll ever happen," He muttered, making me smirk.

"Exactly."

"Kikiiiiii," He groaned, flopping backwards onto the rock. "Didn't anyone tell you to respect your elders?" _Yeah, but I'm four years older than you, kid. Try again next time._

"They did, but they failed to mention mental maturity," I retorted, opening up my lunch.

"Hey!" I made a face when I saw what Midori had packed me for lunch. A tomato sandwich and a mushroom salad. _Maybe I'll just give it to Ali, she likes these things…_ Suddenly, the lunch was snatched from my hands, much to my annoyance. "Aki, you don't like tomatoes or mushrooms, right? Why does Aunt Midori give you them?"

"Because she doesn't know I don't like them."

"Huh? Why?"

"Because I'll eat them anyway. Actually, I just slip the tomatoes onto Ali's plate. Those things are disgusting." I shuddered, the thought of the taste making me want to gag. "I don't want to bother her, so I'll probably start making my own lunches anyway." Yuji eyed silently for a moment, appearing to be thinking about something.

"Then why don't I make you lunch?" I blinked.

"Eh?"

"I-I mean, you like my cooking, so I could teach you in the morning or after school in the dojo, because it has a kitchen."

"The dojo has a kitchen?"

"That thing had everything," He shook his head. "It even has residency rooms and a giant bathroom, like, a literal _bathroom._ It's like a pool in there."

"Sometimes I'm concerned about where your family gets all that money from," I muttered.

"So, do you want to?" I thought it over. It would be easier if I didn't have to worry about switching lunches with someone, and I wanted to be able to cook anyway.

"Sure," I agreed, looking up at the clear blue sky. "After school?" I could practically feel him beam.

"Yeah!"

His enthusiasm was cute.

XXX

"Aki!" Sensei snapped. It was almost June, so we had most of the doors and windows open to cool off the dojo. "You're using improper posture again!"

"Sorry," I readjusted my stance to what he taught us. "It just feels more natural like that." That seemed to catch his attention.

"It does? Show me that again." I glanced over at him, puzzled, but did what I was told. "Now punch me." I gave him a weird look. "Don't look at me like that, just do it." I shrugged and pulled my fist back from my waist, twisting my fist so that my first two knuckles hit him directly in the chest. He let out a grunt, but caught my hand easily. "Now kick me."

Lifting up my knee to a 90-degree angle, I shifted around 95% of my weight onto my leg that kicked Shinji, who caught it and stopped the attack. "I see…" He mused, looking at me with a sparkle in his eye. "Very interesting…" My eye twitched.

"Could you stop mumbling to yourself and tell me what's so interesting?" I grumbled, getting annoyed. He rolled his eyes.

"What's interesting, is that you're an instinctive mover," He informed me cheerily, making me frown. "And you'll be able to use this to your advantage, since you, yourself, aren't very strong."

"What do you mean?"

"You see, an average person either throws half their weight onto a person, or uses only speed to attack their opponent when they haven't been trained in a certain art," He explained, catching Shouta and Ali's attention. "But you used most of your weight on your leg, giving it more power when combined with your speed. This has some disadvantages when you're dealing with multiple people, or when you have people with crazy reaction times, but it's a rather interesting find."

"What are Ali and Shouta then?"

"Ali is more of a defence and attack them when they're weak type person- scratch that, she's more like a "use a dirty trick" type person, like you." Ali and I shrugged. It was true. "Shouta, from what I've seen so far, is a more balanced out fighter. He has no distinguishing qualities, other than the fact that they're pretty much all averaged out."

"…Should I feel offended?" He wondered, not really paying attention anymore.

 **"Nah, it just means you have less work to do to not have weak points,"** Ali and I chorused.

XXX

Sitting out on the grass in the park was relaxing for me in a way I could explain. Maybe it was that I could see the stars, or that at night, there were rarely any humans around. Either way, I almost always found myself drawn here.

 _All that homework is tedious,_ I huffed, lying down on my back. I already knew everything until grade six, and I was studying at home so that I wouldn't have to work in school for a long time. I had all the stuff until around grade eight learned, so as long as I continued studying in my spare time, I was set for the next two years.

I closed my eyes, allowing myself to relax for the first time in awhile.

A little nap wouldn't hurt, right?

Oh boy, was I _wrong_.

XXX

I woke up to the smell of tea and pastries.

Opening my eyes, I saw a creamy white ceiling, and a pair of pretty purple eyes.

"W-W-W-Whaaaaaaat are you doing?!" I fell off of wherever I was sitting and onto the red, carpeted floor. "Who are _you_? How did I get here? Where _am_ I?" The man, he looked rather young, perhaps his early twenties, chuckled.

"Oh, so you were awake," He offered me a hand. I eyed him warily and backed away from him, standing up on my own. Not looking offended at all, he picked up a cup of tea and poured some cream into it. "Tea?"

 _Is this guy okay in the head?_ I wondered, looking at him like he was crazy.

"Oh, do pardon my manners," He shook his head. "I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Amakawa Tsukasa, the new chairman of Seiyo elementary, and this is my office."

"Okaaaay, but why am I here?" The light brown haired man gestured to a spot beside him. I hesitantly took a seat and watched him carefully.

"Getting straight to the point, I summoned you," He said smiling, completely serious. "I made a deal with a… Miss. Rei, I believe, to have a helper." My eyes narrowed. _He knows about Rei?_ "What was that word she told me to tell you…" He placed a hand on his chin, thinking. "Ah, iudicium, that's what it was," I twitched, recognizing the word. He looked oddly familiar as well, but maybe it was just the hair. It reminded me of an anime I'd once watched.

"And what makes you think I'll listen to you," I responded, twirling a fork I'd picked up off of the table beside us, which held cakes and tea. "If you've given me no reason to?" He smiled at me and leaned forwards, making me jerk back. "What the heck are you doing?"

"Making a contract with you," He replied cheerfully.

"Hah?"

"If I tell you how to do it, you'll just run away from me," He sighed, looking a little hurt. "So, unfortunately, I'll have to do it the way Rei-san told me."

"How many ways are there?" He held up his fingers.

"Two. The first way is for the summon and the summoner to reach an agreement and create a contract," He answered.

"And the second?"

"It's done forcefully by the summoner, provided they can catch the summon." He was awfully nice, explaining all that to me, but that didn't mean I was gonna agree. "I'd rather not do it the second way."

"Give me one good reason I should make a contract with you," I hummed. "If you can find a good reason, I'll do it." He chuckled and leaned back into the couch.

"She warned me you'd be stubborn,"

"Who did? Rei?"

"Yes, she said that you had become very stubborn in this world."

"…So you know I'm not from here?"

"Yes." His expression changed to one of sadness. "I've heard what happened, and I'm very sorry." I looked down.

"Yeah, well, what's done is done," I muttered, a pang of loneliness invading my chest without my permission. "I can't even remember how I supposedly 'died' either, or whatever she called it."

"What's your name?" The man, Tsukasa, asked, looking at me gently.

"Aki-"

"No, not her name, what's _your_ name? Who is the girl inside of this body?" My eyes widened as I looked up at him. "You have a name, don't you?"

"Alexis…" I said, so quietly that he might've missed it. "Alexis Reynolds." It'd been almost a year since I'd last heard my own name. Tsukasa smiled.

"Nice to meet you, Alexis-chan," He leaned forward and kissed me on the forehead, making me jump back in surprise and stab his hand with the fork on reflex. Not hard, but it was enough that he would move his hand. "What was that for?" He pouted. _Is this guy seriously an adult?_

"Right back at you!" I exclaimed, scowling again. "What was that for?"

"That was the contract," He told me, and sure enough, a notification that I'd been "linked" to Amakawa Tsukasa popped up, with all the different things I could do. "The other way to create a contract is to kiss the summon with the intention of making one." I gave him a half-hearted glare, to tired to even argue anymore.

"So basically, I have to listen to your orders and keep you from dying?"

"Essentially, yes." I let out an annoyed groan. "Don't worry, it won't be that bad, I won't force you to do something you absolutely don't want to do." I glanced up from the set of rules I had gotten.

"Promise?"

"Promise."

XXX

"Alexis-chan, could you make me a new pot of tea?" Tsukasa called from the other side of the room. "I've run out."

"Again? This is your sixth cup of tea!"

This had become almost normal. Every other day I'd go over to Tsukasa's office, or wherever he was, and help him out with some of his work. Unfortunately, there were some rules that came with being a summon.

 **You must obey any commands you are given and fulfil them to the best of your ability.**

 **You may not harm your summoner unless they have instructed you to.**

 **You must protect your summoner from harm.**

 **You may have multiple summoners, but you must haver permission from the first, and they must give the level of priority the new summoner's orders have.**

There were also some new abilities on my menu, like being able to share a mind with Tsukasa, which we were going to try out soon, he could summon me from wherever I was (provided I gave him my permission), I could make calls to him, and a few more.

For whatever reason, most likely Rei again, he also knew about my strange game character-like powers.

"It helps me think," He countered, violet eyes still on the papers in front of him.

"What are you even working on?"

"Just some paperwork for some of my teachers. They want to take the kids on a field trip to an art museum."

"Oh, I remember going to one of those," I stated, getting up and going over to the electric kettle he had beside one of his bookshelves. "It was interesting, then infuriating because I found a red dot in the middle of a blank canvas, then I saw imaginary artwork being sold."

"Art does work in mysterious ways, doesn't it," He chuckled, eyes flickering over to me in amusement. I sighed and shook my head.

"Come to think of it, how old are you, Tsukasa?" He looked surprised at how casually I called his name. I forgot that people were supposed to do last name and honourifics when they first met each other. Oh well.

"I've just turned twenty, two weeks ago," He revealed. "And I suppose you are around ten or eleven years old?"

"This body?" I questioned, looking down. "Yep. Technically, in my world, I'd be… around fourteen, fifteen?" I mentally calculated in my head. "Uh… yeah… I'd be almost fifteen by now, which makes you five years older than me."

"That would make you more like a younger sister than a coworker then," He commented amusedly.

"I guess," I pondered. "But if you ask me to call you Onii-chan, I will never do it."

"Wasn't planning on it."

XXX

 ** _Lex-chan, grab that red book off of the bookshelf for me, would you?_**

The product of sharing a mind with him was that he could generally feel my emotions and send messages to me via thoughts. He could also look into my mind, or I could send him messages or memories as well, but he typically stayed out of my mind. It was pretty loud in there.

He also kept making absolutely ridiculous nicknames for me.

"Tsukasa, I'm literally _right beside you._ " I grumbled, taking a bite of cake. "And my name is Alexis or Aki, not whatever name you're making up."

"Eh?" He pouted, giving me sad puppy dog eyes. "But-"

"Call me what you want, but don't use honourifics at the end of my name," I ordered, getting up to browse through the bookshelf. There was only one red book on the one I looked through, so I assumed that was the right one. I tossed it to him, then moved over to the window to open it. "Would it kill you to get some fresh air in here? I don't think I've ever seen you leave this office."

"I leave once I'm done all the paperwork, which is usually after you leave," He glanced down at the pages on his lap. "By the way, have you been able to leave the school alright? I know you are from Reiiko elementary, and the school layout is quite different."

"It's fine, I stuck my head out of the window, seeing a small group of two boys and two girls walk out of what looked like a glass covered building. "Why are there students still here this late?" It was around 4:30 on a Friday and all of the clubs had already gone.

"Oh, those four are the equivalent to the student council at your school," Tsukasa said, having looked out the window. "They take care of the students' needs and just generally take care of the school."

"I see." They were very loud, especially the smallest one, who was jumping around all over the place. "They seem very young to be on the student council, for a school that goes up to grade nine."

"They are very competent," He promised.

"Hmmm…" I looked back down at them again, watching the four goof around. The smallest one must've caught sight of me, and she tugged on her friends' shirts, pointing to me enthusiastically. "Oh, they noticed me," I chuckled bemusedly at their surprise. They were probably around my age, maybe a little younger, a little older. The small one, once again instigating action, waved crazily with two arms at me, whacking the taller boy beside her, who gave me a thumbs up. The two started bickering, making me laugh. I waved back with a small smile.

 _"Ohhhhhhh! She smiled!"_ I giggled at them, making them grin. _"Ah, you guys, get back here!"_ I tilted my head.

"You guys?" I parroted, puzzled.

 _"It doesn't look like she can see us -dechu,"_ A high pitched voice pointed out. I jumped and whipped my head to the side where it came from, but saw nothing.

"Huh?" I mumbled, glancing from side to side, trying to figure out where the voices were coming from. "Who said that?"

 _"Oh, she can hear us. What an intriguing commoner."_ A male voice this time, sounding like he would be the type to be a major pain in the butt. He sounded pretty snobby.

 _"Ne, ne, Tsukasa, is she joining the Guardians -dechu?"_ I turned away from the window to Tsukasa, giving him a completely baffled expression. He chuckled and shook his head to a chorus of "aww"s.

"Tsukasa. What. The. Crap." I hissed, tugging on a strand of my hair violently. He offered no answer, but got up and walked over to the window with me, waving at the student council people. They waved back, and the small one looked a little disappointed, until Tsukasa threw a paper airplane at them. "Wha-?" I closed my eyes with a sigh, realizing that I probably wasn't going to get any information out of him.

Opening my eyes and looking down again, I watched one of the boys grab the letter and read it to his friends. They all looked up at Tsukasa and I, then waved in synch, surprising me. I stared at them for a moment, before giving them another hesitant wave, the brown haired man joining in.

After a moment, they dispersed, leaving just the two of us at the window once more.

"What the heck was that?" Tsukasa only shot me a grin, and offered no answer.

Something told me that I was going to look back on this day and regret not pressing for answers.

XXX

 **[A/n]: Thanks for reading!**

 **[Shouta]: Please F/F if you liked it, and feel free to drop in a review!**


	7. School Days- Part one!

[ **A/n]: Alright, about two or three more chapters should be the last of the background information stuff.**

 **I was feeling inspiration today, so another chapter had been created!**

 **[Aki]: More like you have no life.**

 **[A/n]: Shh.**

 _Chapter Seven_

 _School days_

 _XXX_

"Hi!" A cheerful voice chirped, making me look up from the book I was reading during break. A short girl with big blue eyes and pitch black hair stood over me, blocking the sunlight. "You're Hinamori Aki-chan, right?" I sighed. Another interruption.

"Yes, that's right," I replied, going back to my book. It was about how to properly control your breath when you were singing, and diction, two things I needed to work on.

"I'm Shiori Hanamura, but you can call me Shiori," The girl offered, bouncing on the heels of her feet excitedly. She reminded me of a puppy. "Can I be your friend?"

 _Can I be your friend?_ I repeated slowly in my head. _The last time someone said that to me was back when I was in kindergarten in my own world._ I glanced up at the girl who was looking at me expectantly.

"Sure," I muttered, not really interested. She'd probably get bored of me soon, anyway. "Do what you want."

"Yay!" She cheered, pumping a fist. "Thank you- _owah_!" She stumbled, over what, I wasn't sure, and tumbled to the ground, getting mud all over our beige uniform. She got up and tried to brush off the mud, but to no avail. "Aw, man," She groaned, seeing that she wasn't going to get it off. "Our teacher's gonna kill me."

"Our?"

"We're in the same class," She raised an eyebrow at me. "And I sit right in front of you."

"You do?" She shook her head.

"Oh god, you're becoming like a typical shoujo heroine," She sighed. "I'm gonna have to beat that out of you!"

"Excuse me?"

"Listen up!" She pointed at me, the sun behind her shining on her hair. "From now on, you're my lackey!" _Ara? Why does it feel like she suddenly switched personalities?_ "There'll be no swooning over pretty guys, making friends with transfer students, or promises with childhood friends! Kapeesh?" I stared at her for a moment, then switched my gaze up into the sky.

"What did I get myself into?"

"No talking to non-existent people either!"

XXX

I couldn't take it anymore. That constant crying that had been going on for over ten minutes was driving me insane, so I flung open my door started to go downstairs.

"Aki…?" My sister mumbled blearily, still half asleep. "What're you doin'?" I smiled at her.

"Go back to bed, Ali," I whispered, not wanting to wake up any of the others. "I'm just going to get a drink."

"Mmkay."

I softly stepped down the stairs to the living room, where I saw my mom sitting on the couch, looking completely worn out as she tried to calm down the baby. She bounced her gently, but Ami kept crying.

"Here," I held out my arms to her, gesturing to her to give me the baby. She looked surprised that I was there, she must not have noticed me but she handed me the baby gently. I rocked Ami and swayed, humming quietly to her to get her to calm down. Looking down at her face, she just looked a little cranky. I waved my fingers in front of her face and she grabbed them, distracting her from her tantrum, much to my relief. "That's a good girl," I cooed, smiling at her. She'd gotten quite big over the past few months. It was August now, and I was finally 11 years old.

My birthday was small and uneventful, just like any other day. I got a present for Ali, and I got some presents from everyone. Haru-nii and his family showed up, and of course, he had a ridiculous present for Ali and I. We got matching scooters, but different colours. We had to promise that we wouldn't use them until we were twelve, but it was pretty cool.

The guys at the Dojo didn't know either, so they ran out to go grab us gifts and a cake. Yuji and Akira were pretty mad that I didn't tell them it was our birthday.

 _"We'll make sure that you two have the biggest and most awesome birthday next year,"_ They said, starting to make plans in some little planner thing.

"Thank you, Aki-chan," My mother breathed, leaning back into the couch. "She just wouldn't calm down." I nodded, understanding. Being a parent must've been tiring, and Ami wasn't the easiest child to take care of.

"No problem," I handed Ami back, then turned to go back to bed. "I just couldn't sleep with all that noise, so I came down to help is all." Not that I was going to sleep anyway. My stamina bar was completely full, so I didn't need to. I was reading to increase my intelligence stats, and sketching in my sketchbook while Ali slept.

I had to admit, the inventory was useful. I could call out anything I wanted by just saying the name, and I could switch clothes by saying which inventory slot it was in.

"I'll be upstairs," I said lightly. I would probably have to come down and take care of her again anyway.

"Wait, Aki-chan," My mom called. "I need you to come shopping with me tomorrow."

"…Shopping?"

XXX

"Oh, isn't this bra so cute?" Midori squealed enthusiastically, making me twitch. _Did she have to say that so loud?_

Bra shopping. That's what she wanted me for.

 _"Oh, don't look at me like that,"_ She'd scolded when she saw my face. _"You're getting quite the pair there, and you need something to hold them up!"_ Yeah, just scream that out to all the people in the store. Public embarrassment is great. _"And while we're here, we might as well get some deodorant and some hygiene products."_ She then continued to give me the birds and the bees talk, along with what happens during puberty. I did _not_ need to hear all that a second time.

"Aki-chan, why don't you try on this one?" She pointed at a hot pink bra with purple flowers all over it.

"That's highly impractical."

"But it's cute~"

"Can't I just get a regular white, beige, or black bra?" I huffed, scanning the crazy designs that were on them. _I mean, my god, I just need something to hold up these organic milk bags, not an advertisement!_

"And then we need to get you matching underwear!" Mom exclaimed, grinning widely. _Kill me now._

XXX

"How was the-"

"Don't even ask."

XXX

"Kiki-nee," Shouta was watching me from the wooden porch on the side of the dojo, just outside of the sliding doors. "Why are you dodging wood with a blindfold?"

Shinji had come up with a new training idea.

He would blindfold the four of us (Ali, Yuji, Akira, and I) and place us in the centre of some logs that were tied up to trees. He would then swing the logs, which would hit us if we didn't move fast enough. The trick was that if you didn't go in the right direction, you would get hit by another log, then all the rest as they swung forward again. He had us do it without blindfolds a few times, then he told us to use them.

I couldn't even count the amount of bruises I had anymore. My body was just one giant bruise.

I swear to the gods that he got it out of a manga, the crazy bastard.

"It's training," I grunted, narrowly avoiding a log, only to be hit by another. You had to use your other senses to make up for the lack of sight, something I was having a bit of trouble with.

"Hang in there, Aki-chan!" Shinji's wife, Hana. A nice lady, but she could kick my butt into next week if she wanted to. "You only have twenty seconds left!" I let out another grunt as a heavy weight jostled my shoulder, but I shifted my weight to the right to avoid another one that whistled past my ear. "And… You're done!" I ducked downwards and took off the blindfold, moving my sore body over to where Shouta was. "Wow, a new record! You only got hit four times in two minutes!"

"Thanks," I replied with a grin to the fair-skinned woman. She was American, so she looked a lot different than the rest of us. She looked stereotypical, blue eyes, blonde hair, and a curvy figure. Her sons took after her, not their father, who had black hair and brown eyes. Kinda neat, considering that brown eyes were the dominant gene.

"Oh, good job, Hime," One of the men, I think his name was Tojima, praised. For whatever reason, all the… Gangsters, let's call them, took to calling me Hime. Roughly translated, it meant princess. I wasn't sure why they called me that, but my siblings seemed to agree.

 _"It totally suits her,"_ Ali had snickered, Akira joining in.

 _"Yeah, the way she orders everyone around to clean the room."_

 _"She does give off an authority vibe,"_ Yuji agreed.

I fell backwards with a thud, startling Shouta, who I had sat beside. I glanced over at him.

He had gotten pretty big, but he still had those round, oval amber eyes and dirty blond hair. He was probably only a little shorter than me now, but he was still a suck. He liked to cuddle with me, come in my room when he had a nightmare, that kind of thing. I think he may have had a little bit of sibling worship.

He had gotten into watching scary movies right before bed and waking me up at odd hours of the night, which was getting a little frustrating. I'd have to figure out how to stop that.

"Nee-chan?" He gave me a puzzled smile. "Do I have something on my face?" He was a pretty cute kid, for a ten- sorry, almost 11 years old.

"Nah," I sat up and tousled his hair with a grin. "It's nothing."

XXX

"Aki-chan~" Shiori sang, turning her chair around to face mine. It was just before class started, and the teacher still wasn't there. "Wanna eat lunch with me today?" Ever since I'd met her, Shiori was determined to make friends with me. I wasn't exactly thrilled, but it wasn't the worst thing that had ever happened. "I have sausage," She tempted me. Funnily enough, I had a crazy for sausage. Odd coincidence. "I'll share with you if you sit with me."

"Okay," I complied, only because she had sausage. "I have some veggies and dip," I offered. She gave me a satisfied smile, as if I had done exactly as she had wanted me to, and placed her head on my desk.

"Yeah!"

XXX

"Aki," Shiori hummed, giving up on honourifics, realizing that I really didn't care how she addressed me. "I think you're a tsundere."

"You what now?" I scoffed, munching on a piece of apple. She'd tempted me again today. It was getting a little weird. Shiori somehow always knew what kind of weird craving I had each day, and she'd randomly pop up in the morning with apple cider, marshmallows, stuff like that. Sometimes I thought she could read my mind since she seemed to read me like a book. It freaked me out but intrigued me at the same time.

"A tsundere," She repeated, snatching an apple piece from my lunch. "A term for a person who acts all cold towards someone before showing their warm side." When she put it like that, I guess it could've applied to me. "I-I-It's not like I like you or anything!" She stammered, then went back to her normal self. "Like that! Now, you try it!"

"It's not like I like you or anything," I said deadpan, making her shiver.

"Damn, that was cold," She looked at me with a frown. "Are you a sadist?"

"What? No!"

"I bet you totally are," She mused, mulling it over. "Then again, you are my dog, so maybe you're an M?"

"I'm not an M or an S," I hissed, whacking her on the forehead. "I'm a perfectly normal person who has no sexual preferences."

"Oh, but everyone has some fetish," She giggled, almost innocently, if I didn't know any better.

"Why the hell does a 11-year-old know what an M or an S is?" I groaned, earning a proud grin from Shiori.

"I go online!"

"Oh dear god."

My new friend was a clumsy pervert, my martial arts teacher was a gangster, and my summoner was friends with body-less voices. Couldn't I meet anyone normal?

XXX

"Ohoh!" The black haired girl took in the massive looking gates of the Dojo. "I bet this place has all types of fun places."

"It's a regular dojo, moron," I pushed open the door, holding it for her. She nodded in approval.

"Being a gentleman is essential on the first date," She declared, marching through. "Good job, my young Padawan!" _Good manners my butt._ She'd made me carry her all the way from school to here, after demanding to see my house. I told her that I was going to train after school, so she came with me.

"I'm back," I called into the training room, opening the door, only to hear shouts of,

"Hime's baaaack!" One of the men screamed, alerting the rest to my presence.

"Pick up those shirts and toss the cans in the garbage!"

"She'll kill us!"

"I thought she wasn't done school until 4:00!" Tojima, the only one who I was constantly able to recognize due to him following me on the first day, swatted the one who said that.

"Lala's already here, so why wouldn't Hime be?" Lala was the nickname they came up with for Ali because she wanted one after hearing mine. It helped the rest of them to tell us apart too.

"Hime?" Shiori wondered, glancing at me. "What are you, some kind of dominatrix?" I rolled my eyes and stepped into the room, taking in the messy and lazy sight.

"Why is there underwear on the floor?" I sighed, not able to understand why they would change in the training room when we had change rooms. "Get those wrappers off the floor! I expect it to be vacuumed and garbage free in seven minutes!"

"Yes, ma'am!"

"You _are_ a dominatrix."

"Shut it, Hanamura," She snickered, knowing she had won.

XXX

"Aki," Shiori whined from the floor to my left, "Can't you do something more interesting?" I was warming up using the punching bag.

"Not until the rest of them come…" I heard a soft "shhh" noise. "Oh, there's one of them."

"Kiki, which one do you want? Chocolate or vanilla?" Ali called, bouncing into the room, carrying a bag, most likely with ice cream in it. "Oh? Who's this?"

"This is Shiori," I introduced, pointing at the wide-eyed, gaping girl. "She's an annoyance from school."

"Who is that?!" Shiori jumped to her feet and started poking my little sister. "There're two Aki's!"

"It's called identical twins, doofus," I corrected, making her gasp dramatically. "This is Ali, my little sister."

"Woaaaaaah," She grinned. "This is so cool. Can you talk in synch?" I glanced at Ali, who shrugged.

 **"Sure."** Shiori squealed.

"That's so coooool!" She repeated again, making me roll my eyes and turn to Ali.

"Pass me a vanilla, would you?" Obliging, she passed me a vanilla drumstick. I opened it and bit into the ice cream, making me shiver. It was cold.

"Do you want one, Shiori-chan?"

"Sure!" After handing her one, Ali turned to me with a frown.

"Kiki, why didn't you tell me you made a friend?"

"I didn't," I protested, licking my cone. "I found a parasite."

"Same thing, really," Shiori interjected, eating her chocolate ice-cream cone. "Did you just call her Kiki?"

"Yep, that's what all of us call her," She explained, tying her green hair back into a high ponytail.

"All of us?"

"Yep," She chirped, always happy. "We have a two younger siblings, and one older one, plus the two boys who come here."

"Ami can't talk yet, though,"

"True."

"Boys?" Shiori raised an eyebrow. " _Boys_ come here?"

"Oh god."

"Yes?" Ali answered curiously, not knowing what was coming next. "Why do you ask?"

"Back in my day," She started, making me groan as she stood up, "It was _sacrilege_ for a girl and a boy to be in the same room together! You youngsters are always so unguarded around each other, it makes me _sick_!" She scowled, looking up at us disapprovingly.

At 4'2, three inches shorter than the average girl, and the two of us, three inches _taller_ than the average girl, she wasn't very intimidating. "And all this tomfoolery and fondling, it's horrible!"

"Shiori-"

"What are you going to do if he attacks you?"

"Shio-"

"For gods sake, if he lays a hand on you, hit him in the family jewels-" All the men in the room winced and shuffled away from her, making Ali snicker.

"SHIORI."

"Oh, I like this one," Ali giggled.

XXX

Eventually, Akira and Yuji arrived, creating more chaos.

"Keeping secrets from me, eh?" She scowled at me and nudged me in the ribs. "You're an awful lackey, you don't even report that you have two of the most popular boys in school all to yourself every day!"

"They're popular?" I switched my gaze over to the two boys in front of us. "Akira's a jerk and Yuji can't socialize properly," I stated bluntly, making Yuji laugh sheepishly. "How on earth are they _popular_?"

"Oh, Kiki," She sighed, shaking her head. She picked up the nickname from the rest of them. "You just don't understand a maiden's heart."

"Hah?"

"A dreamy bad-boy, a boy who's insides don't match his outsides, they're attracted to the gap!"

"But that's not who they are," I argued. "It's not like that's all they are."

"But that's all that they see~" Shiori countered with a shake of her head. "Actually, it wouldn't surprise me if they started taking the harassment on you to the next level," She speculated.

"Harassment? What harassment?" I questioned.

"They tried to isolate you, but you weren't affected by it at all," She laughed, grinning at me. "Since you hang out with these two, you were bound to get isolated." She gestured over to the two blond-haired boys, who looked rather upset by this. "They'll probably start putting death threats in your locker, spoiled milk in your shoes, rip up your notes, stuff like that."

"We have to stop that," Yuji growled, looking very angry. "If I knew what was happening, I would've-"

"You'll only make it worse," Akira cut him off, blue eyes now sharp. "If you stand up for her, they'll only go after her even more. They might even attack you next."

"That's right," Shiori agreed, nodding. "That's what happened to me, after all."

"What do you mean?" Ali asked.

"I made friends with Kiki here, and I broke the "Girl code" doing so," She put air quotes around "girl code". "Which means they isolated me too. They were probably the ones who made my notes disappear." My expression soured. I didn't like that someone was getting hurt because of me. "Oh, don't give me that look, they were all a bunch of stuck-ups anyway."

"Still…" I grumbled, clenching my fists.

"Don't worry," She grinned at me and flopped over into my lap. "As long as you don't leave me, I'll be fine."

"…"

XXX

 **[A/n]: So, an introduction of a new character. What did you guys think of her? Like her? Hate her? Let me know!**

 **[Shiori]: They love me, duh. Who wouldn't like me?**

 **Thanks for reading! Feel free to drop in a review!**


	8. School Days- Part Two!

**[A/n]: Uh, I just realized that I made a little blip on the last chapter- sorry! She had just turned 11, not 10.**

 **Reviews:**

 **GlaresThatKill: That's what I was going for :) Don't worry, she won't be like that for very long. Promise** ** _*Cough cough * ends this chapter *Cough cough*_** **. Well, I'm glad I can portray my characters properly!**

 _Chapter Eight_

 _School Days - Part Two_

 _XXX_

I scanned my classroom during a self-study period.

Looking around now, it was obvious that I was isolated. All the other girls in my class went off in a circle and chatted, occasionally looking over at someone and giggling, some not interacting with me only because they didn't want to get isolated too. I caught a few apologetic glances from a few of them. The boys had almost as much interest in me as I had in them, which is to say, none. A few of them looked a little curious about me, but none of them came over and talked to me.

"Does it bother you?" Shiori questioned, twisting around to look at me. I raised an eyebrow at her. "The whole class ignoring you," She clarified. "Does it bother you?" I shrugged, pretty much indifferent about it.

"Not really," I answered, looking back down on the math that we were supposed to be doing. I finished it a little while ago, so I had nothing to do while Shiori just opted not to do it. "You do realize that's for marks, right?"

"Yeah, so what?" She groaned, looking bored out of her mind. "I'm not too worried about my marks."

"What if I go to a completely different middle school?"

"Huh?"

"What if I apply to a different middle school than you and you don't get in because your marks are too low?" She blinked, then quietly turned around and started doing our homework. "Good girl," I smirked.

XXX

"It's just so boring," I complained to Tsukasa from the couch. "I already learned all that stuff… Oh my Geoffrey, it's been three years since I've come here." I realized slapping a hand over my face.

"Three years?" Tsukasa looked intrigued at my choice of wording.

"Yeah," I glanced over at the brown haired man. "I came here when this body was eight and I was twelve. So, that means that technically I'm fifteen right around now."

"I see…"

"I don't feel like I'm fifteen though," I continued, swinging my legs up onto the top of the couch, flipping myself upside down. "I feel like I'm still around twelve."

"It makes sense. You've been _living_ for fifteen years, but you yourself are twelve." He hummed. He was right. It made sense, in an odd way. "I also noticed that you seem to say something along the lines of "menu" sometimes?" He changed the topic, watching me.

"Yep." I agreed, dangling off the side of the couch, being careful not to hit the table which held cake and tea. "This world is a game. I can pause the world, I can use an inventory, maps, abilities and stuff." He looked fascinated. "You're level three, by the way."

"Such an interesting ability… Does everyone have a level above their head?" I nodded.

"They have a level, name, if I know it, a gauge showing how they feel, and whether they're an enemy, ally, or friend."

"What does it say above my head?" I pulled myself up and looked above his head where a floating green gauge was.

"Amakawa Tsukasa, level three, friend/ally. You're currently feeling healthy and happy." I stated. "It only gives me general moods like angry, sad, sick, and happy."

"What can you do with your inventory?" Instead of answering him, I decided to show him instead.

"Inventory- slot 4." Instantly, the clothes on my body changed from a t-shirt and jeans to a love sleeved shirt and a skirt with leggings. "Inventory- apple." An apple appeared in my right hand out of nowhere. I held it up to Tsukasa. "I can't carry anything like a fridge though," I commented, remembering what happened before. "It gives me an error message." I tapped the apple twice with my right hand and it vanished as quickly as it had appeared.

"Fascinating…" He looked like he wanted to ask one more question.

"What?"

"What's that song you always hum?"

"Oh, those songs are from a group call Rajaton. They're kind of an acapella group," I explained, grinning. "The one I hummed is called Sydan Ei Vasta. It's about a someone wondering if they've finally found "the one", but the heart won't answer. Hiilja, hiilja, vaasta, vaasta. Heart, heart, answer, answer. I also like the Butterfly one, I sing it to Ami when she doesn't fall asleep."

"I like it," He smiled at me before looking back down at his paperwork. "Do you want to do this for me?"

"No way," I scoffed.

XXX

Almost two years later, Aki's life was still generally the same. Get up, clean, eat, go to school, train, go to Tsukasa, go home, eat, shower, sleep, and repeat. There were a few thing in between like Ami learning to walk and talk (She'd become a major diva), going to an amusement park, seeing her cousins and her aunt and uncle- that happened a lot more now since they moved closer to them- and they had finally moved into the new house that her parents had wanted.

It wasn't too far away from everything since they were still in the same neighbourhood, and they were closer to Yuji and Akira. _Much_ closer. Right next door closer.

There was definitely an escalation with the bullying, it was just as Shiori had said. Ripped up notes, milk in her locker, tacks in her shoes, death threats. It was almost amusing to the green haired girl, if only Shiori hadn't gotten involved as well. She had calmed down a bit the past year and had wormed her way into Aki's life. Actually, _forced_ was a better word.

"Kiki-nee," Shouta called from the living room, "Where're my new soccer clothes?"

"I washed them and put them in your room!" She called back from the kitchen. Another development was that her mother and father had _both_ been promoted, meaning longer hours and less time at home, making Aki into her sibling's primary care taker. Shisui had started going to university, getting a job as a school nurse at Tsukasa's school for part-time, thanks to his sister. He definitely knew how to clean up cuts and how to take care of sick kids from his time at the Dojo and with his siblings. However, this meant that he was only really home at night or on the weekends.

"Onee-tan, Onee-tan," Ami trotted into the room, holding up a drawing. "Look!" It was a drawing of what she guessed was Shisui with lots of bright colours surrounding him.

"Nice," Aki grinned at her and placed the last dish in the cupboard, quickly and efficiently wiping down the counter and draining the dirty water. "Why don't you go show Ali and Shisui-nii? I'm sure they'll love it!"

"Yeah!" She ran out of the kitchen and up the stairs, her footsteps making loud thumping noises.

"Now," She muttered, opening the fridge, "What should I make for dinner and lunches tomorrow… Tortilla soup is good, and it makes them eat their vegetables, but I'm not sure if we have enough tomato sauce…" She let out a sigh. "I guess I'll have to go shopping again."

XXX

"Kiki," I groaned from the bed of her room, lying down next to Akira. Her room was much bigger here than it was before, and she even got a balcony! Not fair! "Do my homework for meeeeee."

"Do your own homework," She grumbled, scowling down at a drawing. "I have other things to do."

"So cold," I sighed, laying my head on Akira's stomach. "You've been so mean since Yuji left for boarding school."

"She's just lonely," Akira commented from under me. "She has no friends, after all."

"Why are you guys even here if all you're going to do is comment on my social life," She rolled her eyes, swivelling around in her chair. "Don't you have work to do, _cat_?"

"The project? You know I don't do those, _Karma_." They'd taken to calling each other odd names to try to get at each other, but neither of them seemed to care. They were a weird pair. Why Karma, you ask? Well, ever heard the saying, "Karma is a bitch"? That's what he's referring to. Mature, much?

Aki found it amusing, so she started calling him a cat due to the way he acted. I was still "Lala", for whatever reason. They never told me why they called me that, and it frustrated me. Why was I the only one out of the loop?

"Both of you, shush," I groaned, closing my eyes. "I'm gonna take a nap."

"If you want quiet, take a nap in your own room," Aki retorted cruelly. She was so mean to me.

XXX

 _Wow, real imaginative,_ I mused sarcastically, looking at the letter I'd gotten in my locker, saying along the lines of "Go die, slut," Couldn't they come up with something more unique?

 _Ping!_

A notification popped up from Tsukasa telling me that he was going to be going out today, so I didn't need to come unless he summoned me. He would be back late.

 _I guess I might as well stay after school today to do some planing,_ I sighed and crumpled up the note, tossing it in the trash. _No need to tell the others either, I don't want to worry them._

I really wished that I had told them.

XXX

I felt blood dripping from the scratches on my cheek as the group of girls slapped me and held me down. I gave no resistance since I'd been told not to use my martial arts outside of class or self-defence. I would heal once I ate again, anyway.

They had come into the classroom about half an hour after everyone had left and started to beat me up, for whatever reason. I guessed Shiori was right about it eventually escalating to this point.

"What a freak," One girl laughed, standing over me. I recognized her as one of the popular girls in school, one of the ones the boys all swooned over. "I guess she isn't as strong as the rumours say!" There was another round of laughter as I looked at them all blankly as they hit me.

"What's with that hair of hers?" Another one snickered, grabbing a fistful and tugging my head upwards. "You're so annoying, always hanging around Akira and Yuji, thinking you're so hot! I bet you were the reason he left!" I let out a dry smirk.

"Oh yeah, he totally left because I broke his heart," I muttered sarcastically, angering the girls. "If you actually listened to the teacher instead of gossiping about the latest scandal, you would know he went to boarding school, genius."

"You bitch," She glared at me and grabbed a pair of scissors from the desk behind her. She gave me an almost insane grin as she snipped them together. I suppose arguing back wasn't the best idea. "Let's see how you feel when I cut off all of that fake hair of yours!" I bit back a grunt as they flipped me over, grabbing my long ponytail and starting to cut it off. I stayed silent as a foot pressed into my back.

 _I wanted a haircut anyway,_ I reasoned, trying to stay calm. _They're just doing it for free._ The sound of footsteps storming down the hallway

"Aki!" Shiori slammed the door opened, taking in the scene with an expression of horror, which swiftly changed into rage. "How dare you," She seethed, storming into the room and throwing the girls off of me with a growl. "Why didn't you fight back!?" She snapped at me, clearly upset with me.

"I'm not allowed to use any techniques on civilians," I answered blankly, standing up and wiping the blood off of my swollen cheek.

"It would be self-defence, you dummy!" She hissed at me in frustration. "My god, my best friend is an absolute moron!"

"Looks like we have an intruder," The ringleader of the girls giggled. "Girls!" As if they had planned this all in advance, they switched from me to Shiori, twisting her arms behind her back. "Now, Hinamori, do what we want, or Hanamura-chan gets it." Shiori let out a yelp when one of them twisted her arms back to far. "If you don't…" She gave a look to one of the girls, who punched Shiori in the gut, making her fall to her knees and cough hard. There was another punch to her face which hit her nose, blood starting to drip out of it.

"Blood…" I murmured, my eyes widening.

"Do you understand?" The girl giggled, crossing her legs as she sat on top of a desk. "Do as I say."

"You made her bleed…" The girl raised her eyebrow.

"Hah?"

"You hurt Shiori," I growled, eyes flashing with anger. "Now I hurt you." I slowly stepped towards her, making her confident facade fade.

"Y-You won't hurt me," She stuttered, trying to keep her cool. "You just said-!"

"Except in cases of self-defence," I hummed, my voice dark with anger. "Which this clearly is."

"W-W-Wait! S-Sto-!" She didn't get another word out after I punched her, sending her to the ground. The rest of the girls gasped and ran forward, attempting to get revenge for their leader who was on the floor holding her cheek and moaning in pain.

 _"Aki, no!"_

XXX

"Alexis…?" A soft voice called from the door of the hospital room, a pair of purple eyes peeking in. Tsukasa gasped when he saw me. "Oh, no…" I smiled bitterly, looking down at my bandaged ankle. I was covered in bruises and cuts, I probably had fractured something as well.

"Haven't you heard, Tsukasa?" I choked, fighting back tears. "I'm a monster and a freak with green hair. That's why I attacked her, because I have anger issues and have dealings with gangsters." My voice completely broke, along with my attempt to clog the tears.

"Alexis, I'm sorry," He made his way over to the bed, hugging me tightly, being careful around my injuries. "If I hadn't gone out-" I shook my head, letting out a shaky breath.

"It's not your fault, it's mine for losing control," I forced a laugh, but Tsukasa didn't seem to be convinced. Not that I was okay. "I should have called a teacher or something, but when I saw them punch Shiori…" I shuddered, scared of that part of myself. I had beaten a bunch of thirteen-year-old girls with no fighting experience to a pulp, and there was no excuse for that.

"I heard you were expelled," He sat down on a stool next to the bed, grabbing my hand. "And that the girls who were bullying you two were as well." I felt a small amount of satisfaction and felt guilty that I didn't feel very bad about what I had done.

"Yeah… There were several witnesses over the years to our bullying, and plus we had evidence with the notes and stuff…"

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't want to get you involved." He frowned at me.

"Don't ever say that." He demanded. "Don't _ever_ say that again. As both your summoner and your friend, promise me that you'll tell me about it if it ever happens again."

"Tsukasa-"

 _"Promise me."_ I looked at him with hesitant eyes. After a moment, I nodded.

"I promise. Cross my heart and hope to die." He smiled.

"Good."

XXX

Akira still wasn't talking to me.

He was still angry that Shiori and I didn't call him when we were in trouble, not that we could have anyway. We tried explaining it to him, but he wouldn't listen. Sensei was angry with me at first too, but calmed down a little after hearing what happened. The rest of the clan was in a frenzy of rage towards the girls who hurt us.

My mother and father were incredibly upset with the fact that I didn't trust them enough to tell them, Aki and Shouta already knew about it, Shisui was a little upset too. Ami had no idea what was going on, thank god. I didn't think I would be able to handle it if she started talking about it.

My uncle and aunt were completely understanding, unsurprisingly, along with Sensei's wife. I started crashing at their place instead of Akira's because I couldn't take the tension in the two houses.

On top of that, one of the girls had managed to hit my ankle with the scissors, so I couldn't actually walk properly or do anything strenuous for a few months. Not that I was going to. I also had to find a new school soon, but Tsukasa offered to take Shiori and I in his school. My parents were debating about whether or not to take it, since it'd take me away from all of my "friends". Yeah, right. The only friends I had were Akira and Shiori, one going to a new school anyway and the other who lived right beside me.

All in all, things were absolute _shit_.

"Have you tried apologizing?" Haru questioned, plopping down on the sofa beside me. I rolled my eyes.

"I doubt that saying 'whoops, I accidentally beat ten or so girls to a pulp, sorry!' will get me out of this mess," I muttered, watching the news. He tousled my hair, now a lot shorter thanks to those girls. It was barely reaching my shoulders and had become a curly mess now that it didn't have the weight to hold it down.

"I meant, why don't you apologize for not telling them?"

"Why would I tell them?" I glanced over at him. "They would only make the entire thing worse and piss the girls all off even more."

"Such a pessimistic kid," He teased, grinning at me. "I wonder who you got that from."

"Maybe my biological parents?" He raised his eyebrows.

"They told you that you were adopted?"

"No," I shook my head. "I have a different skin colour, eye colour, I have _green_ hair for god's sake, height, body type, Ali and I were born six months before Shouta, and I found adoption papers in their room. Plus they got all twitchy when I mentioned how close our birthdays were."

"Aren't you a regular Sherlock," He chuckled, sending an amused glance to Nadeshiko, who had walked into the room on that note.

"They're feeling worried, Aki-chan," She sighed, giving me a small smile. "They're worried that you don't trust them and that something might happen again."

"Well, I don't trust them," I answered bluntly, making both of them blink. "And I'll make sure to control my temper next time."

"Why don't you trust them?" Nadeshiko sat down on the other side of me, looking curious.

"They haven't given me a reason to. They lied about where I came from, they constantly forget to do their housework, they always forget about me when I try to ask something, and they're never at home anyway." I started, getting annoyed. "They like to pretend that I'm still the same person I was before the crash, when I'm obviously not, and they don't ask my opinion on _anything_."

"They love you, Aki, and they just want the best for you."

"I know that," I huffed, sending an annoyed glance at him. "They want the best for me, but they can't do that pretending that the car crash never happened. I'm not their little girl, and I haven't been since after that car crash."

"Maybe so…" Nadeshiko consented, "But don't you love them too?" I stared at her for a moment, thinking it over.

"…I don't know."

XXX

"Haru, is she going to be alright?" Nadeshiko fretted, having gotten a lot closer to the girl over the past few years. She originally thought she was cold but she now saw that she cared deeply for her family, even if she didn't see it.

"Yeah," He smiled at his wife, having just come home from driving Aki back to her house. "She's a strong girl, she'll be fine."

XXX

Dinner was another awkward encounter, especially since Akira's family came as well. I generally just stayed near Ali and Shouta, the only two in my family who weren't angry with me. Shisui wasn't bad, and neither was my teacher, but they weren't sure how to handle this situation.

Everyone sat in silence, quietly eating their food. I could feel Hana, who was sitting beside me start to get worked up.

"Oh, all of you are just so _frustrating_!" I didn't expect her to shout at the top of her lungs. "So what, she didn't want to tell you that she was in trouble? Isn't it because she didn't want you to get worried and screw it all up?" She gave me a pointed look. I didn't expect her to be so right to the point either. "Why don't you all 'pologize and make up?"

"Uh, Hana-san, your accent is coming out," My mother interjected weakly.

"I don't care!"

"Oh god," I groaned, catching her attention.

"And you," She turned and poked me in the chest, "Why didn't you call for help?"

"Because you'd all screw up and make it even worse," I answered honestly, making my parents twitch guiltily.

"Acceptable!"

"…Seriously?" Shouta gaped at her.

"Akira!" Her son looked up with a "hmm?" "Why are you so mean towards Aki-chan lately?"

"Huh?"

"You haven't talked to her in weeks, and she's even stopped coming over!" She exclaimed, her brows furrowed. "You finally make a friend and you're scaring her away."

"I have othe-!"

"Are you really going to chase away your childhood friend because she didn't call you? What it she didn't have her phone?" His eyes widened in realization, finally. "All of you are being ridiculous. So what, she screwed up a little, but she did it for a friend!" There was a round of apologies towards me, when Hana sent me a look. "You too."

"Sorry for not telling you guys," I muttered, poking a piece of broccoli on my plate with my fork.

"Now we're all good, and no more of this stupid tension, got it?" I laughed and grinned at the blonde woman beside me.

"Who needs conflict resolution when we have Hana-san?" She puffed her chest out proudly, making all the kids giggle.

"That's right!"

"Oh no, don't start this again," Sensei groaned.

"You got a problem, Shinji? Maybe you should get your wife to solve it!"

"I should be in the government," Hana declared, earning a loud burst of laughter from everyone in the room.

With that, an incredibly long month after the incident, everything was resolved.

XXX

 **[A/n]: Went a little dark there, but that's pretty much the end of the back story. The next chapter will be the start of Aki's adventures!**

 **Thanks for reading! All criticism is appreciated!**


	9. Welcome to Seiyo Elementary!

**[A/n]: Thanks to Red Distress, waterflygirl, and Ikuto878 for F/F!**

 **Ikuto878: Aw, thanks :) You made my day! Make sure to tell me when I make any mistakes or if something seems weird! Thanks so much for the review and the F/F!**

Chapter Nine,

Welcome to Seiyo Elementary!

XXX

" _Hey, hey, did you know? About that shakedown incident?"_

 _"Yeah, I heard, I heard! She saved some kid in our school from some mean high school kids!"_

 _"Hinamori-san is definitely the best!"_

 _"Her hair colour is so cool, I bet she had it specially done by a professional,"_

 _"There's a totally relaxed feeling around her, it's like she already knows everything!"_

 _"The way she wears her uniform is cool too!"_ Aki sat at her desk, eavesdropping on the conversation.

 _"Her mother is a famous fashion magazine writer and her father is an ace photographer!"_

 **"Everything about her is just so cool!"** They squealed in admiration for the girl, breaking out of their whispers.

"I bet her boyfriend is much older, and a celebrity!"

"Like an idol?" One asked.

"Maybe he's even _French_!" Aki sighed and stared out the window, looking up at the October sky. _Morons._

Her eyes flickered down her uniform, trying to see what was so cool about it. It was just loosely tied and her cuffs were folded. She had her jacket open and shorts under her skirt too, if that made any difference. _I'm not relaxed at all, I'm just bored out of my mind from being forced to sit here all day and relearn everything I already know._ She sighed for the umpteenth time that day. _I want to see Ali… I wish we could've gone to the same school._

It was week two of going back to school and Aki couldn't have disliked it more. She was away from her family and in a different class than Shiori. She also had a strange nagging feeling at the back of her mind that she was missing something every time she was in the school.

It was driving her _insane._

The only thing that amused her in this school was watching the rumours grow and hear crazy speculations on how she messed up her leg. It had healed quickly thanks to her health bar but she still had to use a crutch and wasn't allowed to do any running on that leg for another month. _Whoop-di-do._

XXX

"How was school today, Kiki?" Shisui tapped away on his computer in the nurse's office, doing some left-over paperwork about some kid with an epi-pen. "You have fun?"

"Oh yeah," I said in a monotone, swivelling around in his chair in a few circles. " _So_ much fun. I felt like I was going to _explode_ from _joy."_ He rolled his amber eyes and tapped a few more things onto the computer, used to my dramatics.

"I can tell. Promise me you won't use any smoke bombs on the teacher, okay?" He paused. "None on Hana-san either, she'd kick your butt." Because of the expulsion, I also had to do some community service so I helped out at Hana-san's cafe/bakery thing. I always assumed they had stolen the money they used but apparently her cafe was well known enough that they didn't have to do that.

"No _smoke_ bombs," I repeated. "Got it."

"Or any type of bombs."

"On the _teacher_ , right?"

"On _anyone_ in the school," He corrected himself, giving me a pointed look.

"So, if some weird person comes and attacks me on school campus, I beat the crap out of them instead of using a smoke bomb to get away. Gotcha."

"Stop twisting my words!"

XXX

"Behind your back is a spirit!" A woman on the T.V shouted, pointing directly at me. I ignored it and continued eating, unlike my sister. Ami, my little sister of three years old, made a scared noise, and dropped her fork. "That's right, no matter who you are, guardian angels are protecting you!" She declared. I snorted.

"This is stupid," My mother looked at me, amused. "I've never once had an accurate fortune told by someone on the TV." Midori pulled out a magazine with the person on the TV in it, a large woman with short black hair and thick red lips. My other sister, Ali, nodded.

"Famous people are always full of crap." She said wisely, making a face on her plate with her spaghetti and meatballs. I sent her a look, and she stuck out her tongue at me.

"Charming." I said sarcastically.

"Anytime."

"Oh, but, 'The Never Betraying Physic", Nobuko-san is for real!" My mother chirped, the rest of my siblings sending her skeptical looks. Shisui and Shouta wisely stayed out of it. "Mama's magazine even did a cover of her awhile back!"

"Never mind that!" Papa lifted a picture of Ami and showcased it. "Look, look! Papa's latest masterpiece!" Mama slammed her hands on the table, narrowly missing the dinner plate. I snapped my hand across the table to stabilize it and she never noticed.

"That's amazing, Papa!" She squealed, Shisui joining in with her, cooing over Ami. I groaned in annoyance, rolling my eyes. Ami grabbed my arm, crying.

"I'm scared, Onee-chan! A monster!" I picked her up and placed her, fluffy pink dress and all, on my lap.

"That's a person, Ami." I scolded lightly. "She's just like you and I."

"NoooOooooO!" Ami wailed, clinging to my shirt.

"I dunno. She looks pretty weird to me."

"Alllliiiii," She shrugged, fixing her hair into a braid. Shouta, always the peacekeeper tried to calm us down but failed miserably. Poor kid, he was born into a family of weirdos.

"She looks kind of like Aunt Nadeshiko," He tried to give a reasonable response but Ali and I gave him a weird glance.

"In what way does she look like Nadeshiko-nee?" I muttered, rubbing Ami's back comfortingly.

"Monster!" Ami wailed, hiding her face into my sweater. I smiled softly down at her.

"No, it isn't a monster, a guardian angel is your companion." Nobuko continued, staring straight at the camera. "Always behind you, watching over you and protecting your true self." _True self…?_ I felt an ache in the back of my mind again. It was becoming more and more frequent lately, which was concerning. I hoped I wasn't sick or anything. "People who ridicule them will die." _Wow, that went from 0-100 fast._ I thought amusedly, staring back at the TV. _Kinda creepy._

"I am not creepy!" I felt shock course through my veins. _What?_ "How dare you call me creepy! I'm a sweet lady who's looking out for _all_ of you!"

"Okay, a creepy old lady talking at me through the tv," I muttered, taking a deep breath. "I've been staying up too late recently."

"Onee-tan?" Ami looked up at me curiously. I set her down at her chair again and picked up my plate, carrying it over to the kitchen before heading upstairs. I paused at the banister.

"Thanks for the food."

XXX

"You heard the old hag talk to you through the TV?" Ali hummed, hugging my pillow to her chest. "I'd say you're crazy but we've seen weirder things. Have you figured out how we…died, yet?" I shook my head in frustration.

For years, I'd been getting flashes of memories but whether they were mine or the original Aki's was unclear. I _had_ been able to tell that the ones I saw in my dreams were mine, however, I always forgot what they were once I woke up.

"The only thing I can remember is that I was terrified and in pain," I recalled, frowning in thought. "I think I also protected you from something but I can't remember what."

"Then why don't we ask our guardian spirits?"

"What?" She smiled at me and slipped off the bed, walking out onto the balcony. "What do you mean?" She turned back to me, her back facing the starry night sky as I stood.

"Aki, we came from another world," She breathed. "We died and now we're here! Isn't it possible that anything could be true in this world?" She looked at me hopefully. "It wouldn't hurt to try it, right?" We lapsed into silence when I walked over and grabbed her hands, tapping her forehead against mine.

"…Might as well give it a shot, right?" I grinned at her, getting one in return. "We got nothing to lose." Ali took a deep breath, closing her chocolate brown eyes.

"Dear Guardian Angels… Uh… Hi," She giggled nervously, making me laugh. "We're kinda lost here and don't know what to do, so, like, if you could give us some help, that'd be great. Thanks."

"Hey, if you guys really are real, could you show us how to get home?" I wondered, closing my eyes as well, putting my whole heart into praying. "And if you can't do that, could you show me who to be better at the things I like?"

 **"Guardian Angels, please come help us and show us our paths,"** We murmured, ending off with a last phrase. **"We would be forever grateful."** I waited for a moment before releasing Ali.

"Well, that didn't work," I chuckled, turning back to go inside.

"They might be busy," Ali offered.

"Yeah, sure, dishing out justice and stuff, right?"

XXX

In another realm, a being perked up.

 _"Guardian Angels, please help us and show us our paths. We would be forever grateful."_

So they finally called out to her, huh? The being chuckled at the image of the two little girls she had switched, seeing them grown up. Standing up from her chair, she strode away from her office and out into a colourful outside world, eggs and tiny creatures flying around everywhere.

Watching the groups of little ones, she reached out a hand and plucked several eggs from the air, dropping them in a basket she had brought along.

"These should work," She hummed, heading back inside her office.

XXX

"ONNNEEEEEEEEEE-CHHHAAAAAAAAAAAN!" Ali screeched, slamming my door open with a loud bang.

"Ali, what the hell…?" I groaned, her shout waking me up from a peaceful sleep. _Oh well, I only had a few more minutes anyway._

"Looooook. At. Thiiiiiiis." She shoved a hand with a coloured egg into my face.

"I really don't care how well your painted eggs turned out… Wait, did you stay up all night making them? You're crazy." I took in the ridiculous amount of detail around the egg, the flashy, tie-dyed colours and shiny sequins hurting my eyes in the morning.

"I didn't make it," She hissed, leaning forward. "When I woke up, it was beside my face!"

"Mhm… Sure…" I sighed, realizing that my time to sleep was over. "I'm gonna get ready for school now." I threw off the covers, swinging myself off of the bed.

"You don't understand-!" She stopped, puzzling me. "…Kiki, look at what's on your bed."

Eggs. Five eggs were on my bed.

"The hell?" I poked them, kneeling down onto the floor. "A green clover, a pink heart, a blue spade, a silver shield, and a…" I squinted at the last egg. "An animal of some kind? What's that? It doesn't look like any shape I've ever seen." It was a massive multicoloured blob in the middle of the egg. I glanced at Ali, who looked just as baffled as I did. Her face brightened.

"You don't think this is the Guardian Angel's doing, do you?"

"You're kidding me."

"No," She insisted, cupping her egg with her hands. "They were the ones who did this!"

I rolled my eyes and grabbed my clothes. I'd decide what to do with the eggs later.

XXX

"Hey, mom," Ali called from the table, watching my dad cheer Ami on while she sang. I couldn't even tell what she was saying. Something about flying? "Did you put something in our beds last night?" Midori looked over curiously at us.

"No, why?"

"Well-" I was cut off by my father who flashed a picture he had taken proudly at my mother.

"Cuteee!" She gushed, forgetting all about us. "Oh, sorry, what were you saying, you two?"

 **"…Nothing,"** We both looked down at our plates. I squeezed Ali's hand. **"It wasn't important anyway."** My mother seemed to accept this and went back to chatting with Tsumugu.

"Kiki-nee, Ali-nee, is something wrong?" Shouta worried, catching our expressions. He was overly sensitive. I grinned at him.

"Nah, we're fine, Shou," Over the past few years, the kid had almost grown taller than me, much to my irritation. Well, we were almost fourteen, so it was to be expected. Actually, he was almost thirteen but same difference.

"If you say so."

XXX

After school, I decided to take a walk around to clear my head. Tsukasa was away today and I had nothing to do at the shop or the dojo so I was bored. I liked looking around at all the little animals and plants anyway.

 _What are those eggs,_ I mused, having mulled it over all day. Every time I did it, my head hurt. Every freaking day at this school, my head hurt! It was like I was forgetting something that was at the tip of my tongue, like it was so obvious that it should've been right in front of my face. I tried looking in inventory but it just said "Unknown".

"Hey, you." I glanced around in surprise, trying to locate the voice. "Yeah, you, commoner." I scowled.

"I don't know who you are but you _really_ shouldn't call someone you don't know a commoner," I growled.

"Up here," The voice sighed in exasperation. I looked up to see a tiny purple-haired fairy floating in the sky. He had a cape and puffy pants on, like the old-fashioned royalty people. I gaped at him in shock and stumbled back.

"W-What?" I felt my jaw drop. The little floating thing looking on in approval.

"Amazed by my elegance? It's not surprising that someone like you would- _gack_!" I snatched him out of the air, examining him from every angle in bafflement.

"What _are_ you?" I wondered.

"Let go of me, you man-handler!" I raised an eyebrow.

"That's not a nice thing to say to someone who could crush you. Try please," I ordered, annoyance clear on his face.

" _Please_ let me go," He spat. Good enough.

"Kiseki! Where are you?" My eyes followed the tiny creature.

"Are you Kiseki?" He ignored me and floated off, his cape fluttering in the wind.

"Tadase! Some insolent commoner just fondled me!"

"I didn't fondle you," I protested with a scowl. "You were the one who surprised me." A blond haired boy with startling red eyes came down the path at a jog, slowing down when he saw me.

"You touched the king," He argued, coming down and glaring fiercely at me. "That's a crime!" I rolled my eyes.

"King? Where?"

"Why you-!"

"You can see him?" The blond spoke, eyes wide as he looked at me. I looked at him strangely.

"Uh, yeah? A little floating purple guy?" He nodded. "Yep, I see 'im. Who're you, by the way?" He smiled at me charmingly. _Oh, he's cute._

"Hotori Tadase, King's chair," He inclined his head toward me politely. "Pleasure to meet you." I hummed interestedly.

"What's a King's chair?" He blinked and Kiseki scoffed at me.

"You don't know what the king's chair is? Tadase is the leader of the Guardians!"

"The _what_ now?"

"The Guardians, the leaders of the school," He sighed and shook his head.

"I think I remember some people talking about you…" I mused, recalling conversations in the classroom and the people out the window a few years ago.

 **[Achievement Unlocked: Starting your adventure!]**

 _Woah, woah, woah, what?_ I hissed, catching the notification out of the corner of my eye. "You're basically the student council, right?"

"That's right," Tadase confirmed, still smiling at me. "And you must be Hinamori-san, correct?" I narrowed my eyes at him.

"How do you know who I am?"

"There are many rumours about you around the school," He replied mysteriously. "And I find it interesting that you can see Kiseki. Do you have any of your own? Any eggs?" I tilted my head in puzzlement, eyeing him warily.

"I found eggs this morning if that's what you're asking." He looked like I had just confirmed what his suspicions.

 _"Aki!"_ I heard Shiori call me from the edge of the forest, sounding annoyed.

"Sorry, gotta go, blondie!" I spun away from him abruptly and took off in the direction of the school, rather fast for someone with a crutch, if I did say so myself. "Seeya!" I ignored his shout and skidded down the path.

XXX

"Hinamori-san," I opened my eyes and was met with two faces, one being the boy I'd met yesterday and the other a redheaded and sporty looking boy. "Good afternoon." I sat up crossed legged and gave him a blank stare. "I'm Hotori Tadase, from yesterday after school?"

"Yeah, I remember you," I mumbled, glancing up to see Kiseki and another floaty thing with blue hair this time. "You're the student council president guy." The boy next to him snickered.

"You finally found another girl who doesn't swoon over you," He chuckled, grinning impishly at me. That wasn't true. There were lots of girls who liked other boys in this school, they just didn't mention it. "I'm Sohma Kukai, a ninth grader and Tadase here is a seventh grader, like you!" He jerked a thumb up at the two floating boys. "This guy is Daichi and you've already met Kiseki."

"And I should care because…?"

"Because we want you to join the Guardians!"

"No."

"No? Why?"

"Because I don't want to."

"Why?"

"Because I don't particularly like the people in this school other than my one friend. Can I go now?" I grumbled, irritated that they had bothered me during lunch. Shiori was going to be here any second now and she would force me to join the Guardians whether I wanted to or not.

"Please?" Tadase gave me puppy dog eyes but I had little siblings, that wasn't going to work on me.

"I order you to join us, commoner!"

"No," I repeated flatly. They didn't look like they were going to give up. "And my name is Aki, not commoner."

"Why don't we have a bet?" Kukai suggested, unfazed by my rejection.

"A bet?" I was interested now and he could tell. "What kind of bet?" He shrugged.

"You choose whatever you like, and if we win, you join us, and if we lose, we'll leave you alone," He offered.

"Sohma-kun!"

"Okay, you're on," I agreed, allowing myself a small grin.

XXX

I had chosen hide and seek. He had the entire week to find me outside of school starting at 4:00PM to 8:00 AM, when school started. My only other comment was that he wasn't allowed to go to my house since I wouldn't be there anyway.

"You're pretty good, Hinamori," Kukai praised, having found me during lunch and sat with me. "I don't know if I'll actually catch you." It was day two. The other rule was that only Tadase could help, not any of the…floaty-things. They still hadn't told me what they were.

"I'm not planning on letting you," I quipped, scanning the grade 7,8, and 9 textbooks. _As I suspected, it's all the stuff I read a few years ago. If I go over it again tonight I should be able to pass no problem._ I was currently studying the grade nine material, so I wasn't going to have too much of a problem except with math. I was awful at math. Who cared what V= 6Y+67-3x/8 was?

"Is that the grade seven textbook? Man, that brings back memories," He chuckled, glancing over at what I was reading. I noticed that he had a very bright and optimistic personality. I could only hope I wouldn't bump into him in the morning. "Wait, are those the other grades' books too?" I nodded, losing interest in him at the moment.

"Grade seven to grade nine," I mumbled, examining a small section in the grade eight science that I missed. _Damn, they have jewels here too?_ I slammed the cover shut, sliding the three thick books into my bag. "You might want to go. The bell is going to go off in…" I pulled out my phone, a different one from the one I had in my old world (I was worried about it getting broken) and checked the time. "About two minutes?"

XXX

 _They're following me,_ I took a turn onto an unfamiliar street to throw them off. They were pretty obvious about following me, hiding behind nearby thing trees when I looked around. I debated on running around and scaring them but decided against it. I would turn the corner and ditch them, hopefully.

XXX

"Seriously?" Kukai groaned, looking around frantically for the green haired girl they were following. "Where did she go?"

"I'm sure we'll find her, Sohma-kun," The slender blond assured. "She probably just went around the corner."

"I hope you're right, I want to catch her before the time's up!" He declared, grinning at his younger companion. "She's interesting!"

"You think everyone is interesting, Sohma-kun,"

"Everyone is!"

XXX

"I want you to join the Guardians," Tsukasa commented over a pile of papers after the fourth day. I didn't think that the two boys would look in the chairman's office. "I feel it would be good for you." I pressed my lips together in mild annoyance but didn't say anything. He knew how I felt about it. "It would be nice for you to make some friends as well."

Yeah, friends. With people who were four years younger than me in middle school. That was always fun.

They'd never worked for me in either world.

XXX

I skipped the fall assembly. It wasn't going to be anything interesting, the same thing no matter where you went to school.

I wandered down the street and noticed something familiar. I hadn't been there before so it struck me as odd. I went down the street and walked into the construction zone, seeing a large hole in the ground. An image of a pink-haired girl falling onto it flashed into my mind. Who was it? Why couldn't I remember who it was?

In my frustration, I had accidentally fallen into the hole myself.

 **[-3 HP]**

 _Owwww… I'm an idiot,_ I groaned, feeling my ankle throb. I must've screwed up up again. I may have had exceptional healing powers but that didn't mean it didn't hurt. _Now I'm going to have no way of getting out of here. I'm so screwed._ I felt my throat close up and tried to calm myself down. _It's okay, I can always just call someone on my cellphone to get me out,_ I reasoned, then remembered my battery was dead.

"Fuck."

 _"Aki-chan, you shouldn't swear!"_

"People shouldn't do lots of things, what's your point?" It took me a moment to realize what had happened. "Huh?" A pink egg wormed itself out of my bag, floating into the air. "I'm just so done with this world, floating eggs, people… tiny people." I took a deep breath. "You're hallucinating, you're hallucinating,"

"How rude!" The egg cracked open with a loud "pop!", a small, completely pink girl appearing out of it. "I'm not a hal…hallu…"

"Hallucination?" She puffed up her cheeks.

"Yeah, that!" She waved her pom-poms around, her pink hair bouncing with her movements. "C'mon, Aki-chan! Let's get out of here!"

"In case you haven't noticed," I gestured to the walls of dirt around us. "I'm kinda stuck and my ankle is completely busted." _I'm talking to a pink thing that popped out of an egg that appeared in my bed a few days ago. I don't even have the energy to dispute about this anymore._

"No problem," She assured me, grinning at me. "From a girl who can't fly to a girl who _can_ fly- Chara change!"

"Wait, what?" I stuttered. _Did she just say flying? Chara-change?_

"Hop! Step!" Glowing pink wings appeared behind my joints, my mind finally remembering why everything was so similar. _She's…!_ "Jump!" I felt a large bubble pop inside of me, warmth spreading through my body for a moment.

I let out a shriek as my body moved on its own, involuntary taking me into the sky and bouncing off of the various metal bars before landing on one of the top girders of the construction site.

"S-Shugo chara," I looked down dizzily, clinging to the post beside me after I saw how high up I was. It finally all made sense. Tsukasa, the school, Tadase, the eggs, Kukai, my parents, and Ami. They were _all_ from Shugo Chara. So was the little pink girl. "N-No way, this isn't possible." The woman in the television, the shakedown with the little boy… It was all from the first episode of Shugo chara!

 _"This world is made up of your favourite anime and manga,"_ She said.

The pink girl seemed to take my shock about this world as from what she did.

"My name is Ran, Aki-chan's Shugo Chara!" That confirmed it. Memories of episodes flashed past my eyes, the general plot line and the roles Amu played appearing in my head. "Aki-chan's would-be self!" She cheered, waving her pom-poms again.

"Wait, if this is after that…" Didn't Amu confess to Tadase? I supposed it was an alternate universe because she didn't have green hair and brown eyes either. Plus, Shisui, Shouta, Ali, Akira, and Yuji weren't in there either. Was everything self-correcting? If we were following the proper sequence of events, next was…

"Heh? So you have Charas?" _Ikuto._ The black-haired high schooler jumped off of the bar and easily walked over to me, his cat ears and tail swaying as he walked. He sniffed the air towards me. "You still have more eggs, don't you?" He smirked, violet eyes flashing with amusement. I let out a low growl. Now that I knew what they were, he wasn't going to get my eggs, even if I didn't know what the heck was in the other two.

"There are four others, nya~!" Yoru floated out from behind Ikuto's back. I'd always liked Yoru, more than Ikuto, at least. Ikuto was pretty cool too, though.

"Aki-chan, be careful!" Ran warned, moving in front of me protectively. "These people want your eggs!" _I already know that!_ I glanced behind me. Nowhere to run. _"Kya!_ " Ikuto flicked Ran away and leaned closer.

"So, you're Aki?" It was almost ridiculous how they followed the script, like it was something they practised over and over again. Well, they were still game characters.

 **"LVL 6, Ikuto, ?"**

 _I'm pretty sure he's an ally but who knows in this screwy place,_ I huffed, smacking the hand that was supposed to grab the unhatched eggs in my bag away. _Wait, Amu had to fall to get the lock back, so does that mean…?_ I swallowed back the fear that was creeping up my throat.

"Heh, the little girl has some spunk," Ikuto snickered, shifting back a little out of my range. "Looks like your eggs are just about ready to be born too."

"And we already have the Humpty Lock! We scored _big_ today!" Yoru held the lock within his paws. It seemed like no matter what I did, the world was self-correcting the plot and returning to the script. _I wonder what would happen if I beat him up or cussed him out?_ I shook the thought from my head. "Ikuto, grab them and let's go home, nya!"

"Sounds good," He agreed, inching closer. I slid a foot back, knowing what had to happen. It seemed I had to take on the heroine's role in the place of Amu. What a pain. "Come here, girlie, just hand over your eggs and you'll go home. Everybody wins." I scoffed and took a deep breath, now at the edge of the platform.

"Sorry, but I think I'd rather go my way," I grinned shakily at him and leaned back, letting myself fall off the ledge. Ikuto and Yoru gasped, Ran letting out a shriek, tumbling down with me.

"Aki-chan!"

"Come on, come on!" I shouted, terror overwhelming my sense as I felt myself rush towards the ground, the air almost painful against my back. If I didn't do something, I would be a green pancake. " _Please_ , help me!" There was another duo of surprised gasps, not that I could hear it with all the wind whistling in my ears and I saw the Humpty Lock hurtled down toward me, glowing bright pink, just as I remembered it in the anime.

Different words, same outcome. It looked like this world was about to become a whole lot bigger.

The light dazzled my eyes as I strained my arm to reach for it, my only chance at getting out of this whole mess. _Here goes!_ I snatched it out of the air, the light growing even brighter, illuminating the entire sky.

I felt a warmth again and a sense of peace, instinct taking over my body as the light faded and I was still heading down. I let my body move on its own, crouching down and sending me flying up into the sky.

It was exhilarating. I couldn't even begin to describe the feeling of flying and briefly wondered why Amu was always so terrified of flying when it felt this good. It was like my heart had been lifted away from any problems I had, like I could fly away. Although, the skimpy cheerleader outfit could've been a little better, seeing as it barely covered any of my body.

Giddy laughter streamed out of my mouth as I twisted and turned, trying all sorts of positions to see what they would do before I landed. I could see the entire city from up there, Ikuto and everyone else nearby only little dots on the ground.

 ** _All right, Aki-chan!_** I heard Ran's voice echoing in my mind, it was pretty neat. **_You're already able to character transform!_** I let out another laugh and ignored the small rational part of my mind calling me insane. I hadn't had this much fun in ages!

Sadly, everything had an end.

I landed on the ground, stumbling a little and almost tripping into Tadase with a wild grin. I'm sure I looked crazy with hair all over the place and wide eyes once I turned back.

"That. Was. _Awesome_!" I exclaimed, realizing that it was probably a little weird for Tadase who had only ever seen me grouchy.

"I know, right?" Ran bubbled, giving me a thumbs up. Tadase chuckled and turned to Ikuto who had landed shortly after me on a crane.

"You again, little king?" The teen teased, giving the red-eyed boy an arrogant smirk, tail waving from side to side.

"Taking newborn eggs is against the rules," He stated, moving in front of me protectively. "Also, putting your hands on the Humpty Lock is deplorable, Tsukiyomi Ikuto!" Oh, he chara-changed with Kiseki. I forgot about the whole "calling-him-by-his-first-name-because-I-feel-betrayed" thing.

"Yeah, go find some old eggs and eat them," I muttered sarcastically, shifting my bag behind me, ignoring the stinging in my ankle.

"It's your fault for leaving it there," Yoru taunted, sitting on Ikuto's shoulder.

"I'll never let the likes of you have the embryo!" This was pretty cool, watching it play out like a movie.

 **[Achievement Unlocked: Transformation!]**

 **[Achievement Unlocked: Meet Ran!]**

 _Yeah, because I hadn't figured that out already. Thanks_ so _much._

Ikuto flicked his wrist, a giant blue cat paw coming out of it. It looked a lot more realistic than it did in the show but then again, the rest of the world wasn't really animated either. He swung it forward towards us, Tadase doing the same with his staff in retaliation.

"Holy crown!" A sparkly orange light came forth, blocking the giant cat paw and dispersing it into smoke and providing a cover for the Ikuto to flee. "…He's a crafty cat," Tadase murmured as if he was trying to provide and explanation for me. "He ran away." The blond turned to me, the crown on his head disappearing as his expression softened.

I'd never been quite clear on how Chara-changes worked. Did the Shugo Chara force their personality onto the bearer, or did they magically transform them? "Are you okay?" He questioned, a small look of concern on his face. "Did he hurt you?"

"No, I'm fine," I hummed, shoving my left hand in my pocket and used my other to check the eggs. No damage. Well, besides my ankle, of course. "Neat trick." _Okay, be cool, you're only talking to one of the main characters in one of your favourite anime._ I resisted the urge to grin like an idiot.

"Hotori-kun," My eyes flickered away from the king and over to my left where a red-clothed Nadeshiko stood. I always wondered if she… he… had seen the entire thing and just watched. Screw it, this is Nadeshiko, she's a she right now. "If you don't return to the Guardian meeting…" She trailed off, her meaning someone muddled but Tadase seemed to understand.

"You might want to go home for today," He advised me, Kiseki nodding along with him. "Well then…" He stepped forwards, joining his friend. "See you." I was left behind, standing silently and touching the Humpty Lock that'd been forgotten. It made a soft metallic cling when it hit my necklace, pulling my out of my trance.

"Well, that wasn't what I was expecting today," I brushed my hair back, pushing down all the loose curls and stray hairs.

"It was fun~!" Ran cheered, waving her hands excitedly. "Don'tcha think, Aki-chan?"

"It was okay," I replied coolly, starting to walk toward the entrance of the construction site when I noticed the time. I was going to have to explain why I was at the cafe so early. "And my name's Aki, not Aki-chan."

XXX

 **[A/n]: Aki's finally figured out where she is but how will she deal with having to join the Guardians? Will she stick to the plot line? Will she create her own? Who's the mysterious person who picked out the eggs? Find out next time on "A Green Fall"!**

 **Thanks for reading!**


	10. Welcome to Seiyo Elementary!- PT2!

**[A/n]: Well, this didn't turn out as well as I'd like but I suppose it's okay.**

 **Thanks to tausha. karren. 3, YourFriendBob, minekid878, EmeraldStar642, WeepingAngels626, for F/F!**

 **Red Distress: Thanks!**

 _Chapter Ten,_

 _Welcome to Seiyo Elementary - Part two!_

 _XXX_

"Aki," Hana called after me as I made my way into the cafe, walking to the change room. "Don't you have school today?"

"I was let out early," I lied, pushing the doors open and scanning the changing room for my locker. I found it and unlocked it, pulling out my uniform and undressing.

"Ne, ne, Aki," Ran flew about the room, exploring it excitedly. "Who was that? Why are we here? Where are we?" I buttoned up my shirt calmly, then folded my clothes and placed them back into the locker and locked it.

"This is my part-time job," I answered, watching her flutter around. "That was Hana-san, my Sensei's wife and the owner of the cafe. We're here because I have to do some community service to make up for something." I pushed through the doors, ignoring her cries of "wait!", and started making some of the smaller snacks.

I wasn't very good at baking but I could do cookies and chocolate just fine. I was absolutely awful at making cakes or anything else so I just left that to Hana and Ali.

A couple of hours passed without incident. Ran liked watching me make the cookies and the designs on the window. She cheered me on whenever I did something, which was kind of nice. I had completely forgotten to tell Ali and Tsukasa about her hatching, both of which would be annoyed with me. Well, probably not Tsukasa. He didn't get annoyed.

 _Ring…_

The bell at the front door jingled, signalling that a customer had come in. I glanced up from a giggling and dancing Shugo chara to a feminine looking orange-haired boy with pretty green eyes. I smiled, recognizing him.

Shima, a boy who had become a regular soon after I started working for Hana. He came in every day and chatted with Shiori, Ali, and I. We all grew fond of him with his easily flustered and shy nature. Actually, I tended to tease him more than I talked with him.

"Hello," He greeted, smiling shyly at me. I gave him a small wave.

"Hey," I replied, nodding in acknowledgement. "The usual?" He almost always got green tea and one of my peanut butter and chocolate cookies.

"Yes, please,"

"Ara, Shima-kun?" Hana glided in, a charming smile on her lips. "Don't you have clubs or anything after school?" He shook his head, brushing back a few loose strands of hair he had missed from his barrettes.

"No, I don't really like any of the clubs at school," He murmured, looking down. "I like it here better." He shot a glance at me.

"He's so cuuuute!" Ran gushed, landing on his shoulder and looking over his uniform. I resisted the urge to respond, instead moving to make the usual for the boy.

XXX

"Oh. My. God." Ali gaped at Ran, immediately understanding where we were. "It's a freaking Guardian Character."

"Surprise," I muttered, pulling the other eggs out of my bag. "I don't know who the other two are, so they're probably for me, not Amu." Ran couldn't hear our conversation, she was flying around looking at everything. She was shocked when she first saw Ali, who she claimed was a clone but calmed down when I explained that we were twins. "Guess who else I've met."

"Who?" Ali hadn't watched the entire show but she'd joined in on me enough that she knew most of the characters. She also _loved_ their character songs.

"Tsukasa, Tadase, Kukai, Nadeshiko, Ikuto, Kiseki, Daichi," I paused for a moment. "And our parents and Ami." She gasped.

"You're right," She breathed, eyes wide. "Wait, does that mean-?"

"Yep. I'm at Seiyo," I confirmed, running a hand through my hair. "And it seems like I've replaced Amu, seeing as I have Ran."

"Oh my god," She repeated. She knew about Tsukasa being our summoner but he agreed to only calling on Ali if he really needed her. They hadn't met but she also agreed to help him if she was summoned. "Rei was right. We really are in an anime." I touched the locket around my neck.

"I'm just wondering about a few things…" I mused. "I didn't follow the proper plot-line like confessing to Tadase or meeting them at the front of the school, so I think that the world tries to correct any inconsistencies." I divulged. "They all said exactly the same thing as they did in the anime even when I did something different."

"Wait, if you didn't meet them in front of the school, then how did you meet them?"

XXX

Ran had finished examining the area around Aki's house and came back when she overheard the two twins talking.

"Confessing to Tadase…meet at the front of the school…I did something different," She heard bits and pieces of what Aki was saying. She gasped, putting the pieces together.

 _Aki-chan is going to confess to Tadase in front of the school tomorrow!_

And she got it _completely_ wrong.

XXX

"Ran, what's up with you today?" I questioned, seeing her act somewhat jittery. She came up to me, a serious look on her face.

"Aki, just tell me what to do and I'll help!" She declared, puffing out her chest.

"Uh… Okay?" She looked satisfied with that and continued ahead of me. _Well, whatever._

XXX

After changing in the locker room, I headed out to the field where my class was doing gym.

"Kiki!" I glanced over to my right where a girl with black pigtails bounced over excitedly. "Our classes get to do gym together today!" I hummed, rocking backwards on my heels.

"Really? I thought they didn't do that here," Shiori shook her head.

"It's totally different from our last school," She grinned, obviously happy to be with me again. We hadn't had much time to hang out lately, other than the shop and lunch break. "They let you get away with so much more here and the uniforms are so cute!"

"Yeah, yeah," I started making my way over to the rest of the class, sitting down in the middle of an instruction on how to properly do a high jump. Ran darted around Shiori, who couldn't see her, making a lot of noise. I tried to ignore her and listen to the teacher or at least be able to space out.

"The third-graders are doing the horizontal bar," The girl beside us commented, turning her head to look at the group.

"I'm bad at that too," Her friend admitted sheepishly, watching them. It was one of the things I absolutely hated in gym.

 _Wait a second, isn't this where Amu gets…? Oh god,_ I groaned, catching Shiori's attention.

"What's wrong, Kiki?"

"Hey, fifth-graders, can someone come and help out?" The teacher from the other class called. _No, no, no, no!_

"Hey, how about you, Hinamori-san?" The girl with buns on her head chirped, looking over at me.

"Yeah, yeah! Hinamori-san should be good at everything!" Her friend agreed. _I_ ** _should_** _be good at everything? I_ **should** _?_

"Uh, no, I'm…" I bit my lip uncomfortably as Ran shot up in front of me.

"Let's do it, Aki!" She gave me a thumbs up. I felt the warm bubble in my chest again and felt it pop, the warmth spreading. Shiori gave me a confused look.

"Kiki?" I jumped up on my feet with a large friendly grin, waving my hand.

"Okay! I'll do it!" I felt my body charge towards the bar without my permission. _Oh god, no, please don't!_ I grabbed the bar at full speed, swinging around it at a dizzying pace for a full ten seconds or so. I could hear Ran cheering in the background and I swore I was going to kill her later. I finally knew how Amu felt.

I let go of the bar as I swung up, the Chara-change allowing me to do a full rotational flip in the air before landing perfectly on my feet. I ignored the slight sting of pain from my right ankle and tried not to fall over from being disoriented. The third graders behind me cheered loudly and clapped enthusiastically. I felt like I was going to barf.

"W-Well, the dismount was a bit much," The teacher was dumbfounded. _Just the dismount? Just the flipping dismount?!_

Little did I know, Shiori was watching me silently, a contemplative look on her face.

XXX

"Akiiiiiiiiiiii," Ran wailed in the art classroom, sitting on my knee. "Stop ignoring meeeee, I feel lonelyyyyy!" She whined, doing somersaults on my lap. I rolled my eyes and tried to draw Saaya as best as I could. I was no good at realism. Luckily, it appeared nobody else was either.

"In a single word, it would be _Carnival,"_ Saaya suddenly announced, standing up, roses appearing out of nowhere. I supposed whoever ran the world wanted it to keep some type of unrealistic sense. "Such is true art!"

"Hah?" She plopped back down on the stool we were provided.

"Hinamori-san, capture the true beauty of _me_ , Yamabuki Saaya, or I won't forgive you," She ordered.

"Yeah, yeah," I muttered, trying to get the shading on her face right. "Stop moving, would you?"

"Excuse me! You should be able to find the essence of my spirit no matter where I am!" I let out another eye roll and an annoyed huff. "If you can't-"

"Listen, chickie," I scowled at the redhead. "Sit down and stay still or I'll pin you to the desk with these pencils." She made a squeaking sound and nodded. "Good." I glared down at the drawing, which wasn't doing what I wanted it to. Part of the reason why I stopped doing realistic art and painting. I was awful at it.

 _Then just change it,_ A voice in my head echoed, making me suck in a gasp. I had totally forgotten about the second egg. A relaxed feeling took over my body as I lifted up my pencil with ease. _From someone who's unable to draw anyone to someone who can draw anything! Chara-change!_

My arms moved at an incredibly rapid pace, moving as fast and as expertly as I wished I could move, the picture in my brain coming to life on the page. After less than ten seconds, it was done, looking amazingly professional. I now understood why the pinkette was always so shocked by her skills. It always felt like it wasn't your own work, like you were taking credit for someone else's idea.

"T-This is _me_?!" Saaya gasped, looking flattered by the portrait. I felt a little annoyed that I couldn't draw like that on my own. The class gathered behind her, pushing for a chance to see the drawing.

I spun over to the window and lo and behold, there was Miki, sketching away on her pad. She eyed me curiously.

I didn't understand why she was running away from me since I had no problem with the Guardian Charas. Was there another reason?

"Aki!" Ran exclaimed, pointing out the window I had already seen. I nodded and caught the teacher's attention.

"I'll be right back, I'm using the restroom!" I sprinted down the hallways, not sure if she would actually wait for us. I dodged a few kids loitering in the hallways, muttering apologies as I dashed out the door and after the blue-haired girl.

"Aki, that girl-!" I cut her off.

"I know, she's the blue egg!" I huffed, attempting to snatch her with my bare hands. Funnily enough, even with my high agility and speed, she still managed to dodge me. "Argh," I grunted, landing on the ground with a thud. "What is your problem!?" She raised an eyebrow at me, floating above my head.

"Why are you running?" Ran demanded, sticking to the script once more. "You're one of Aki's Guardian-Charas too!"

"…I'm Miki, Aki's would-be self," She started slowly, staying a safe distance away. "But she's still very upset and confused about where she is." I blinked, then pulled a hand up to my necklace. "If she doesn't clear her feelings up about this world, we'll disappear."

"This world?" Ran parroted, puzzled.

"She constantly switches between hating and loving this world, feeling betrayed and feeling needed. It's enough to throw her heart off balance." Miki clarified. _So they won't just settle for Miki being born a different way, huh? I guess that means I'm forced to go to the Guardians, no matter what I do._

"It's not that easy," I sighed, lying back against the grass I had fallen on and looking up at the sky. "I came to this world with my little sister and I don't know what I'm doing." I paused, letting out a small chuckle. "I don't even know how I died. I even have a game menu, for god's sake. For all I know, I could've died of old age and I just don't remember it."

"Aki?" Ran settled down on my stomach.

"I'm not from this world, Ran," I explained, a sad smile on my face. I might as well get it off my chest, they were going to find out about it eventually. Besides, who were they going to tell? "I replaced a girl here who died and she took my place back home. I was going to have a little brother…" I felt my throat close up and tears sting my eyes. "He's probably around five or six now… I guess I just feel lonely and out of place here."

"Aki, don't you have a family here too?"

"Huh?"

"You have Ali-chan and the rest of your family, so don't cry," She pleaded, hugging the side of my face. I didn't even realize I had started to cry. I used the back of my hand to wipe away the tears and sat up, taking a deep breath. "You have us too!"

"Thanks, Ran," I smiled at her, then looked up at Miki. "You know, I really have a love-hate relationship with this world, not knowing what is true and what isn't… but you know, I think that I'd like to say that I want to like this world." The blue haired girl smiled at me. "Now c'mon, I have lots of school work to do."

"Yeah!"

XXX

Aki laid down on a bench after school, trying to remember what happened in each episode. She was pretty sure that she was supposed to have gone to the Royal Garden, but since she never got the invitation, she had no reason to go.

 _"I want you to join the Guardians,"_ Tsukasa had said, prompting her to sigh. Aki wasn't sure if she wanted to join, even if she could become the main character. She wanted them to like her for her, even if that meant they didn't.

With the way this world was working, all of her friendships with the cast would work because they were supposed to. Kukai would become a close friend and advisor, along with Nadeshiko, who would later turn into Nagihiko. Yaya would become like a little sister, Kairi would confess to her along with Tadase later on, Ikuto would… Well, be Ikuto.

If she were to deny any of these things, would it change the outcome? Thinking about it hurt her head.

"Aki, are you alright?"

"Does your head hurt?" She opened her eyes to look up at her two Charas. What about the other two charas? The randomly coloured one and the silver one weren't in the anime or the manga. Were they hers? Who were they? What were they for? _"A-KI!"_ Ran shouted, startling her out of her daze.

"Hmm?" She answered absentmindedly, rubbing the locket around her neck. _Sora…_ She missed him badly. The white haired boy was probably the thing she missed most in her old world, even though the way they parted was sour. "What's up?"

"Look, look!" She pointed over at the boy on the field. He was doing -or was trying to do- the bar unsuccessfully.

"Uwah!" He groaned, then saw Aki. "H-Hinamori-senpai!"

XXX

 _This is when he gets an x-egg, I think…_ Aki mused, watching the boy with curious eyes. Wasn't she supposed to go to the Royal Garden first?

"I'm sorry to be such an embarrassment," The brown-haired boy apologized. Aki shook her head. "I'm sorry, Hinamori-senpai."

"For what? Not being good at something? Everyone has things they're bad at." He sighed, looking down at the dirt.

"I have no right to be a fan of the "cool" Hinamori-senpai," He muttered dejectedly.

"Huh?"

"I mean, I have zero athletic ability," He sounded close to tears. "The other kids tell me I should accept being a wimp."

"I used to be like that," I hummed, catching his attention.

"Eh? Really?" I smiled at him. I had a soft spot for younger kids.

"Yeah, I was horrible at sports. You think you're bad? I couldn't even do a pushup. I was also… ah, disliked, I suppose you could say, at my old school." He managed a small smile but looked down at the ground again. I felt a cold breeze pass us, making me shiver.

"I don't think I'll ever be able to reach my dreams," He admitted softly.

"What's your dream?"

"…I want to be at the top of the school's academics." Aki whistled, impressed. "Someday, by becoming a charisma programmer, I would like to be the boss of my own company."

"That's a pretty big dream you have there, kiddo."

"But…"

"But?" His eyes darkened, losing the light of hope.

"I've decided I'd rather not try for that." There was a harsh gust of wind, making Aki stumbled backwards. When she looked back, the boy was shrouded by a purple aura, a black egg with an x on it floating above him. "I'm completely worthless," The boy droned in a monotone. "Even Hinamori-senpai thinks that I'm pathetic."

 **[X-Egg, Level Two, Enemy]**

"No I don't," She argued gently, trying not to aggravate him. "I think you're amazing for trying so hard!"

"Yes, you _do_!" He shot some of the negative energy at Aki, making her stumble back again, dodging some of it.

"So much for not aggravating him," She mumbled, keeping an eye on the black egg.

"Dreams are useless…useless…useless…" He repeated it like a chant, probably trying to convince himself. Aki scowled.

"Useless? How is trying your best useless?" She retorted frustratedly. "Even if you don't believe in yourself, others do! _I'll_ believe in you!" That startled him. "So what, you're a little smaller than the rest? So what, you're not athletic?" She growled. "That doesn't mean you have to give up!" She lifted her head stubbornly, hoping that what she had planned would work. "That just means you have to work a little harder!"

The lock started to glow a brilliant pink, washing the area in a gentle seashell pink colour. Her heart started thudding loudly in her chest from a mixture of fear and excitement.

"My heart," Aki placed her hands around the lock as she remembered seeing it done hundreds of times on her TV. "Unlock!"

Hot pink ribbons swirled into existence, heart-shaped designs covering the bands. They covered her from head to toe, wrapping around her body, designing her clothes. Aki held out her hands as if she had done it millions of times, pulling Ran's egg toward her chest.

The ribbons disappeared almost as fast as they came with a bright pop, leaving behind a two-piece cheerleading outfit, a ribbon around her neck, and a visor which covered most of her hair which lay loose around her face.

 _"Character Transformation! Amulet Heart!"_ Aki grinned like a mad man.

"It worked!" She pumped a fist in celebration. "I can't believe that actually worked!" She felt a little bit of embarrassment from the amount of skin she was showing but it was mostly overpowered by the feeling of awe. She preferred to have her arms and stomach covered, thank you. Plus, in October, it was pretty darn cold.

"Useless!" The egg hissed, releasing another wave of negative energy. Aki yelped and ducked, having forgotten about the egg. "Useless, useless!"

 _"Aki, are you okay?"_ Ran fretted from inside her. _"We can do this!"_

"Yeah, I'm good!" Aki dodged another blast and planted her feet with a grin. "I know just what to do!" She curved her fingers around the lock, hoping that she made a heart. _"Negative heart, lock on!"_ She pushed her hands outwards, feeling the power building up in the lock spiral outwards, encircling the egg. _"Open heart!"_ The light blinded her, she couldn't even see what had happened to the egg.

When the light faded, Ran popped out of Aki, who dropped her arms down to her side tiredly. They were right, transforming _did_ take a lot out of you. She didn't even want to think about doing more than one transformation a day.

 **[Rewards: 20 EXP, $50]**

"Amazing, Aki!" Ran praised, waving her pompoms.

"I just shot freaking lazer beams from my fingers," She gaped, the reality of what she'd done sinking in. "I'm seriously becoming Amu."

"Who?"

"Huh? What was I…?" The boy sat up again, looking completely baffled. "Ah, Hinamori-senpai!"

"Listen here, kiddo," She knelt down next to him, placing a hand on his head. "Don't listen to what those other kids say, just try your best and you'll do fine. You might not be able to make it but at least you can say that you tried." She gave him an impish grin. "After all, if I can go from a dork to this, you can definitely be able to make your dreams come true. You've _never_ been pathetic, and don't you ever think that again, alright?"

"Hinamori-senpai…" He gazed up at her, star-struck. "Your coolness was overflowing!"

"…Hah?"

"My heart is burning with passion! I feel like I can do anything!" He looked like he was about to take someone down. "I'll show you! I'll be at the top of the school and become a charismatic programmer with my own company!"

 **[Achievement Unlocked: First X-Egg cleanse!]**

 _Whoop-di-freaking-do._ He fixed his glasses, the brown eyed boy staring at her with sparkling eyes.

"Even more than that… Hinamori-senpai is the person I want to get!" Aki felt a shiver run down her spine and a cold sweat start to form. _I wonder if this is how Tadase feels all the time._ She tapped him lightly on the head.

"It's past 3:00," She reminded him. "Your parents are probably worried about you." He gasped dramatically and sprinted off.

"Goodbye! My name is Suzuki-!" The green-haired girl couldn't make out the rest and shrugged.

"All's well that ends well," She hummed tiredly, stretching casually, ready to head home when a voice called out to her.

"Hey, Hinamori!" She turned to see the Guardians watching her from the top of the hill. She groaned.

"Oh god, you guys were there the entire time, weren't you?" She already knew the answer.

"Right on!" Kukai gave her a thumbs up. "That was unexpectedly nice of you!" _Damn brat!_

"That was awesome!" Yaya exclaimed. "She's actually really kind!" Aki's eye twitched in annoyance. Nadeshiko chuckled.

"Hinamori-san, you're definitely…" Tadase trailed off, and from what Aki could remember, it would probably about her being the one they needed. She turned with a scowl and marched off, the same way the boy had before.

"Damn brats, treating me like a kid," She grumbled, her mood soured by their comments. "Of course I can be nice!"

"Eh? Aren't you the same age?" Miki asked as they made their way to the path of the school.

"I'm seventeen!" She frowned. "Well, technically. I'm probably around the mentality of a fifteen-year-old, but still!"

 ** _"Ehhhhh!?"_**

XXX

 _So_ ** _now_** _I'm being summoned to the garden. Go figure,_ I huffed the next day, annoyed by what I was ordered to do by Tsukasa. I would have to talk to Hana, Sensei, and my parents about multiple time scheduling.

"She's here, she's here!" A voice chirped excitedly, making me look up to see Yaya and the rest of the guardians.

I found the place to be a little ridiculous, overly posh-looking. Lots of flowers, trees, and even a fountain in the glass building.

"Hey, Hinamori-san," Tadase greeted comfortably from the top of the stairs, Kiseki floating beside him. "Welcome to the Royal Garden." As expected, they all looked interested in me. I did have a crazy amount of power from Ran and co, after all.

XXX

After being offered a seat, Nadeshiko poured me a cup of tea. I wasn't a big fan of tea but I wasn't going to try and offend her. I scanned the table, watching each of them quietly, waiting for them to make the first move.

"Today's tea is a black tea," Nadeshiko informed me with a smile. I nodded, having already figured that out. It was a popular tea at the cafe. "The scones are freshly baked." Was she trying to start a conversation or did she think I was stupid?

"All right!" Yaya jumped up, startling Ran and Miki. "I love Nadeshiko's scones!"

"Well then," Tadase leaned his head into his interlaced fingers, staring at me. "Shall we start with the introductions?" He smiled calmly at me. "Guardians' king's chair, Hotori Tadase. I'm in the seventh grade like you." _Yep. Already know that. I know all of it. I know all about your deepest darkest secrets too._ I tried hard to keep a straight face. "And as you know, this is Kiseki, my Guardian Chara." The purple-haired Chara "hmph"ed.

"Queen's chair, Fujisaki Nadeshiko. I'm also in seventh grade," She gently placed the teapot down on the table. "This is Temari." She gestured to a gentle looking girl wearing a kimono. She winked at me.

"Ace's chair, Yuiki Yaya! I'm in sixth grade and I _love_ cute things! This is Pepe!" A baby-like chara floated over to her side. "Pleased to meet you!" She seemed very high-strung.

"Jack's chair, Sohma Kukai. Eighth grade, as you know." He gave me a cheeky grin. "I'm the captain of the soccer club, and this is Daichi." The blue haired chara with the star headband gave me a thumbs up.

"You guys already know what my name is," I hummed, brushing back a curl of my hair that kept curving around my left eye.

"We know all about you, Hinamori Aki-san," Nadeshiko agreed, her long black hair swishing behind her shoulder. It was funny how my aunt shared the same name as her.

"So she's actually really shy, how cute," Yaya proclaimed.

"Uh, no, I'm not shy, and that sounds incredibly creepy," I protested, aiming the last bit at Nadeshiko, who giggled.

"They say you're a super demon," Kukai grinned at me, coming closer, circling around me. "But you don't look that scary to me." I raised an eyebrow.

"Oh really?" I hummed, getting ready to watch their reactions. "What would you do if I told you most of the rumours were true?"

"Which ones?"

"Guess."

"The one where you beat the entire soccer team?"

"Beat three of 'em after they slipped in the mud."

"What about the one where you threw a stink bomb in the teacher's lounge?"

"Yep, it smelled for weeks."

"The one where you beat up a guy for hitting on you?"

"Yep." The three paused, looking a bit surprised. There was more to the story, of course, but I wasn't planning on telling them that. Yaya looked like she wanted to ask something, but she looked a little scared. "What?"

"What about…" She trailed off for a moment, looking nervous. "What about the one where you put three girls in the ICU?" There was a long silence, the rest of the Guardians looking at me, the Charas too.

"Yep," I smiled dryly. "That one's true too." I drawled, catching the brief looks of fear and shock on their faces. "Didn't you look at my record? I'm a monster who only knows how to destroy. The counsellors say that I'm lashing out because of the accident or the fact that I'm adopted." I scoffed, leaning back into the chair with a smirk. "Tell me, blondie," I glanced over at Tadase, feeling awful for acting like the bad guy, but I had to check something. "I'm sure you saw the file. Why me? Sure, I have a lot of Charas but why endanger your crew with a delinquent?"

 _"How about this?" Tsukasa chuckled, seeing my unamused expression at his order to join the Guardians. "Why don't you give him a little test?"_

 _"A test?"_

"Because I don't believe you are one."

"Hm?" He caught my interest. "How so?"

"Looking even further back, there was clear evidence of you and your friend -Shiori, I believe she was called- being bullied for several years. Two of the girls later admitted that you didn't attack them until after your friend had been hurt, even after they had humiliated and harmed you several times."

 _"If he fails, you don't have to join the Guardians but if he passes, you must promise me to join and protect him to the best of your abilities." I smirked._

 _"Alright, sounds interesting." I had always been a sucker for wagers._

"That's some pretty wishy-washy basis for trusting someone." Tadase smiled at me.

"I also believe that you aren't a mean person from our numerous encounters." I raised an eyebrow. "You have never acted violent towards anyone or anything as far as I've seen, even accepting an offer from Sohma-kun to take a bet on whether you would be able to hide from us for a week. I saw the way you looked when you came down from transforming, and we all heard what you said to the boy back there." His eyes softened. "Despite seeming rough with Kiseki, Sohma-kun, and I when you first met us, you didn't attempt to harm us either. That's why I don't think that you're a violent person."

 _"You tell them all about your past life at school and act coldly towards him," Tsukasa offered. "And then ask him why he wanted you to join. I'll bet you anything that he says it's because you're a good person and/or you would be a valuable asset to their team."_

 _"You sure have a lot of confidence in your nephew." Tsukasa gave me a small, affectionate smile._

"What if I told you I was only behaving because I would get arrested if I didn't?"

 _"I've found his character to be full of potential, and I think you will too."_

"Then I would still believe that you are a good person," He persisted stubbornly.

"Heeh?" I pulled back with a laugh, feeling it come bubbling up my throat. "You're so weird!" I laughed in amazement, shaking my head. "You're trusting me because you have a gut feeling that I'm not gonna attack you? You're a funny one, Tadase-kun." He blinked at me in surprise. Man, they really were related, those two. Tsukasa would be proud.

"Huh?"

I pointed at finger at him, grabbing a scone with the other hand. "You pass!" I declared, taking a bite onto the treat. "Wow, these really are good." I glanced over at Nadeshiko. "You're almost as good as Hana-san. That's impressive." She looked a little pleased by what she assumed was a compliment.

"Woah, woah, woah, woah," Kukai stammered, looking between Tadase and I in bafflement, Yaya and Nadeshiko doing the same. Tadase didn't look much better. "What do you mean, "You pass"? Why did you change all of a sudden?" I swallowed the bite I had in my mouth.

"I was testing you guys," I stated in a tone that screamed "duh". "Since I was ordered to join anyway, I had no choice but I figured I'd screw with you a little first." I flashed the cheeky grin he gave me before for a split second before going back to a normal expression. "Surprise."

"Wha-?"

"Ehhhh?" Yaya cried, getting into my personal space. I leaned back a bit. "You mean you were lying?"

"Lying?" I repeated in a drawl, still leaning back into my chair. "No, I really did do all those things and much worse, mind you. Although, quite a few of those rumours are absolutely ludicrous. Who thought I was a celebrity? I live in a tiny town house in the suburbs, like everyone else." I scoffed.

"You were ordered to join?" Nadeshiko was the only one who picked up on that piece of information. Smart kid. "By who?"

"Well, that I can't tell you," I commented. "But I can tell you he's on your side. I'm sure blondie knows who I'm talking about." I was also ordered to protect Tadase as well, much to my amusement. I guess he had a bunch of jealous boyfriends after him for stealing their girlfriends.

"What were you testing us for?" Tadase didn't even look offended by the fact that I was calling him blondie or that I tested him. I thought about it for a moment.

"To see if you would be able to look deeper than the surface?" I answered slowly, thinking it over. "Or maybe just to see what would happen if I gave you a difficult question?"

 _"Maybe?"_ I shrugged. I went to the beat of my own drum.

"Wait, so you're joining us?"

"Yeah, pretty much," I glanced at Ran and Miki who looked excited. "I might not be here all the time, though. Sometimes I have other…" I trailed off, not sure how to word what I was doing. "Obligations…" That came out a lot more ominous than I meant it to but it worked.

After many more questions and "explaining" Shugo Chara to me, I was allowed to go.

XXX

"You joined a club?" Shinji parroted incredulously, making Aki roll her eyes. "You?"

"Yes, I joined a club, it's called the Guardians. Yes, there are boys, no, I don't really care if they're cute," I muttered, anticipating the questions that were bound to come from the rest of the gang. Akira looked at me in confusion.

"Who are you and what have you done with Karma?" I sighed, ignoring the rumble of voices from the men in the dojo.

"I was asked to join to help them out,"

"They didn't blackmail you, did they?" One of them pressed, looking serious.

"No, I joined of my own will, guys. Can I go train now? Shouta's only coming back from camp tomorrow so I've had very little time to train this week." The clan nodded, going into a huddle in the corner, loudly discussing plans they would do if anyone was found out to be threatening me.

 _"We could sneak into her school-"_

 _"No, no, we should take the principal hostage-"_

"You will not be taking anyone hostage or sneaking in anywhere!" I shouted from the other side of the room. "Goddamn Yakuza, thinking violence is anyways the answer."

"Says the person who smashes people's faces into walls."

"Shut it, cat."

XXX

 **Thanks for reading! Reviews are always appreciated!**


	11. To the Present!

**Thanks to xFarxAwayx, NekoFace, and SociallyAwkwardHumanBeing for F/F!**

 **YourFriendBob: Aw, thanks :) I constantly worry that I'm making Mary-sues, especially in this story where the main character is essentially being replaced by an OC. Thanks for reviewing!**

 **xFarxAwayx: Thank you!**

 _Chapter Eleven,_

 _To The Present_

 _XXX_

13, almost 14-year-old Hinamori Aki sighed as she entered her neighbourhood dojo, the one she'd been going to for almost five years now. She walked across the lush green grass of the yard, making her way into the actual building, which was pretty much deserted at this time of day, with the exception of one person.

"Aki?" She glanced over to her right where her master was sitting with a bottle of beer in his hand, looking surprised. "You're pretty early today," He mused, running a hand over the stubble on his chin. "It's only 2:00… Doesn't your school end at 3:30?" She tossed her bag on the ground and huffed in annoyance.

"I don't want to talk about it," She muttered sourly, trudging over to the changing room where her outfit lay. "Today's been a pain." This elected a raised eyebrow from the teacher who was used to her just grunting in response to his question. _That's a first,_ he hummed to himself, taking a sip of his beer. _What's got her panties in a bunch, I wonder?_

XXX

What had gotten my panties in a bunch, as my teacher had so eloquently put it, was the combination of multiple things. I'd retell my entire day but that'd take to long and it'd only sour my mood further. Instead, I'll make a list.

 _1) Ran Chara-changed me in class again, making me almost throw up in the middle of the gym._

 _2) I got no sleep because Ran and Miki decided to have a karaoke contest with Ali, who was still waiting for her egg to hatch._

 _3) I tripped and fell into the mud._

 _4)I hated Mondays._

 _5) My parents were dumping the cleaning and taking care of my siblings on me_ ** _again_** _._

 _6) I hated Mondays._

 _7) I_ ** _hated_** _Mondays._

 _8) Did I mention I hated Mondays?_

Altogether, it made me a very grouchy person. I was also going to end up getting a call from Tsukasa asking me why I skipped going to the Guardians today. I gave up around 1:30, I just didn't have the energy to deal with that crap anymore, especially if I was going to have to watch my siblings all night. I needed to blow off some steam.

On the bright side, Shouta was coming back from his soccer camp tonight, so he would be able to help me. Plus, I was going to practise throwing knives. Throwing dangerous sharp objects that could easily kill me or someone else if I screwed up always made me feel better.

Just girly things.

XXX

"Ami, don't eat that yet, we have to wait for Shisui," I scolded, knowing that he was going to be home any minute. The only times he actually got home on time was when I made dinner.

"Aki-nee, where should I put these plates?" My aunt, Nadeshiko, dropped off her kids since she had a hospital appointment to go to. She had a set of twins about two years ago, meaning Ami now had playmates, much to my relief. Don't get me wrong, I loved her dearly, but there was only so much of "make-up", "dollhouse", and "make believe" I could take in one day.

Naoki, now nine years old, was such a helpful kid. Whenever he came over, he always helped me out with the chores and tried to do some cooking when he could. He even watched Ami for a little bit so I could do homework. Naoki and Shouta were such sweeties, always helping out. Well, Shouta was a lazy bum when it wasn't about soccer and occasionally wrestled with me, but he was still a sweetie.

"Well, mom and dad are probably not coming home until pretty late, so we just need eight plates."

"Shisui's taking forever," Ali whined, Ami joining in agreement. "Kiki, can't we just eat without him?"

 **"Pleeeeeaaaasee?"** The twins chimed in cutely. They both had black hair and blue eyes but Ryu had a small mole under his eye, while his brother, Shu, did not. It seemed that my aunt and uncle had the same naming sense as my mother, the poor boys. They rhymed when their names were put together.

Man, we really had a lot of black-haired people around here.

"Fine," I sighed, the group of them cheering happily.

XXX

"Aki, Aki," Ran called from above me after dinner. I sent the others to bed a while ago, only Ali and I on the main floor now. "I sense a Guardian character!" Miki nodded in agreement.

"A guardian character?" I puzzled. "Other than you and Miki, there're only the other eggs."

"No, no! It's a hatched egg!" I exchanged baffled looks with Ali.

 **"A hatched egg?"**

There was a loud creak that interrupted our conversation, the sound of the front door opening and closing with a quiet thump. Ran and Miki sighed and flew off, giving up on convincing me.

"Kiki-nee, Ali-nee, I'm home," A familiar voice I recognized as Shouta's called down the hallway. "Are you guys here?"

"We're in the living room," Ali replied, still mulling over the information Ran had given us. I supposed there could be others with Guardian Characters, but it never occurred to me to think that. Actually, they must be all around this world. I shook my head of those thoughts and turned to Shouta.

"Welcome ba…" The end of my sentence dropped as I made a strangled noise of shock. "T-There's a-!"

"Shugo chara!" Ali shrieked, finishing my sentence for me. Shouta blinked, looking about as surprised as we were.

"You…can see him?" He breathed, glancing over to the redheaded Chara with the soccer ball symbol on his head. "But… how? You weren't able to see him before."

"Wait, wait, _waaaaait_ ," I held up a hand, trying to think back. "When did you…?"

…

 _"N-N-Nee-chan!" He stammered, pointing at the spot he was looking at. "W-What is that?" I frowned, moving into the room._

 _"What is what?"_

 _"Eh?" He glanced at me in confusion. "Can't you see it?"_

 _"See what?" I was getting really puzzled now. "There's nothing there, Shouta."_

"Ordinary people can't see us, Shouta-kun!" _I heard a tiny voice chirp, making me whip my head around._

 _"What on earth?" I looked around, turning in a circle. "I swear I heard a voice just now." I mused._

"Ohh, she can hear me? That means she has a hearts' egg waiting to hatch!" _It chirped again. I shook my head._

 _"I must be going crazy if I'm hearing little voices. Maybe I'm not getting enough sleep." I took one more glance around before heading to the door. "I'm gonna go back down and finish taking my nap, call me if you see the bug again. Or scream, either works," I snickered and he blushed._

 _"It wasn't a bug, Kiki-nee!"_

 _"Mhm," I hummed, going down the stairs. "I'll be downstairs."_

…

"Oh." I gasped, flopping back into the couch, recalling the first day I had started hearing the Shugo Charas. "The spider." Shouta nodded, puffing out his cheeks.

"You teased me for weeks after that," He sulked. "But it was actually Masaya, not a spider." The chara, now known as Masaya, gave me a grin.

"Nice to meet ya!" I nodded woozily.

"Same here," I mumbled, feeling a mixture of annoyed and amused that my little brother had gotten one before me.

"Since you can see him, does that mean you have a Chara too?"

"Uh, not quite." I scanned the room and easily found the two messing around in the kitchen. "Ran, Miki!" They glanced up, then floated over curiously.

"You have two?" I winced. I felt like I was becoming a Mary-sue.

"Actually, I have five," I muttered, getting a raised eyebrow from him. "And Ali has one too." I sighed and shook my head with a slight smile. "It makes sense, really. All the times you talked to yourself and all the times you seemed to suddenly improve in soccer and revert back, it all makes sense." He chuckled sheepishly.

"Yeah, well, Masaya likes helping me out during practise."

"That's right! I want to play too!" I laughed at his enthusiasm, earning another pout from the two of them.

Our world was slowly growing bigger and you know… I think I liked it.

XXX

On the other side of things, the twins who took Alexis' and Andrea's places were still adjusting. They had a similar menu they could call upon and were trying to get along with their newfound family and friends.

"Alexis, come take care of the dishes, please!" Her mother called up the stairwell to their rooms, knowing that they would be in one or the other. Those two were inseparable after the accident and their entire personalities changed, as did their relationship. Their mother assumed it was from the trauma of the event which both of them refused to talk about.

"Coming!"

"Oh, and Alexis, dear?" She called as Alexis thumped down the stairs, "Sora is going to stay over tonight while we're gone. No monkey business, okay? I trust you not to fool around." Alexis nodded as her mother went out the door, knowing that Sora would probably show up in a few minutes.

In the past few years, he had become their ally in many ways. It was a completely confusing challenge for the two little girls to have to suddenly grow up. They were now sixteen and seventeen, Sora being seventeen as well. He helped them catch up with their work and what to do around their family and friends. In exchange, they promised to help him come up with a way to bring the real Alexis home. Or at least, send him over.

So far, they had come up with a vague plan but they had no way to test it.

Not like she would want them to test it. Alexis knew that if they tried it, Sora might die.

"Go over what you saw one more time," The white-haired boy demanded, making her groan. She would've thought that _he_ was the one from her universe from the way he looked. White hair, red eyes, and a sharp mind. He knew what to do to get what he wanted and not being able to figure this puzzle out was frustrating him to the extreme. It also didn't help that she was in his best friend's body, which made it all the more confusing in multiple ways.

"Like we said," Andrea huffed, leaning back onto the couch. "We don't remember how we died- or _almost_ died- but when we came to, we were in a dark, black room."

"And we don't even remember what happened in there. The fear wiped out our minds, I suppose." Sora scowled and looked down to his notebook filled with scribbled notes scrawled across the page. "I'm sorry, Sora." His gaze softened a little bit.

"It's fine…" He muttered, his eyes scanning the book. "It's not your fault." Out of nowhere, a piece of information jumped out at him. "Wait a second, in my older entries, it says something about a person named… Rei?" He fixed his gaze on the two, who gasped. "What?"

"Rei…" Andrea breathed, leaning forward, her hands covering her mouth. "Rei, Rei, Rei!" Her voice slowly got louder as she spoke, her face lighting up in delight. Alexis let out a giddy laugh as she felt her stone-cold and frozen memories thaw and run through her mind like a movie.

"Get ready, Sora," She grinned at his baffled expression, finding it kind of cute. "We're about to spill a whole load of information!"

XXX

"So, you're telling me that there're black eggs that come from people's hearts, and they try to attack everything, and there're mini people that will float around me and completely change who I am?" The Guardians had decided to tell me about the eggs in more detail this time as they had only given me the basics before.

"Pretty much," Kukai agreed with my question, even though I already knew the answer.

"And you want me to transform into this... Pink sparkly thing... to shoot beams out of my hands and purify the egg things." Saying it aloud made it sound absolutely ridiculous to my ears.

"Yep."

"…You're all insane." I scoffed, trying to keep up appearances. Even if I did find this _freaking amazing_ , "Aki" didn't know about Shugo Chara. Alexis did. My job was to act coldly, follow the plot, and protect Tadase. If they found out I was from another world or I somehow knew about everything that had happened/was going to happen, I was completely screwed. No way in _hell_ was I going to start over from age eight again.

"But Aki," Ran piped in, "Weren't you excited when you used the lock?" _Damn it, Ran!_

"Well yeah, but going around and doing that every day?" I shook my head. _Nice cover up, Aki,_ I praised myself. "Anyway, I'm going home. I have some things to do before tomorrow." A lie. I didn't really feel like hanging out right now. Tadase smiled at me.

"Just as well," He hummed, tapping a pile of papers against the table. "We were about finished, and it's already four 'o clock."

Everyone packed their stuff and said their goodbyes, heading home for the day. Ran and Miki were tittering about something but I wasn't really paying attention. I was trying to figure out when Nikaido came in and what I was going to do about it. For that matter, what was I going to do when Ikuto got kidnapped? Would I do the same as Amu, or would I have to break him out like Lulu? Would I stop Kairi from joining the Guardians?

In my thoughts, I didn't notice Nadeshiko sneak up on me.

"Aki-chan!"

"Eep!" I whirled around to a giggling Nadeshiko. _Goddamn it, I swore I wouldn't let her do that to me!_

"Aw, how cute," She gave me an amused smile. "You're a little bit of a scaredy-cat, aren't you?" My eye twitched.

"What do you want?" If I recalled correctly, she was trying to convince Amu to join the Guardians but I already did. You know what, I wasn't even going to try to logic this place anymore. It twisted and turned so many times, it only kept to the general plot in some places, went skewy in others. I was done. Screw you, world.

"I was thinking that I want to play with you and become best friends!" She chirped, clapping her hands together.

"…I can feel an ulterior motive here somewhere." I narrowed my eyes. Nadeshiko grinned at me.

"Eh? I only wanted to have some fun," She insisted but I could see the evil glint in her eye. She was totally planning something. "Like… a romance in the Guardians, perhaps?"

"…Oh god." Since I wasn't going to go crazy over Tadase, the world decided to have Nadeshiko push me towards him instead. _Are you freaking kidding me? Is this because I insulted it? In that case, I love this world to death._

"Nadeshiko," Temari called. "Try _that._ " She urged.

"Okaaaay," She rummaged through her pockets for something, then pulled out a picture of Tadase falling asleep in the Royal Garden. I had to admit, it was pretty cute. "The secret weapon to entice Aki-chan! Sleepy Hotori-kun's private picture!" She declared, waving it in front of my face. _Nonononononono, is this_ ** _seriously_** _happening?_

"Don't want it," I huffed, making her smile.

"I have an entire album of his photos," She informed me.

"What are you, a stalker?"

"You're so straightforward,"

"You're incredibly manipulative."

"Maybe so…" She hummed. "I'll be going to Hotori-kun's house tomorrow. Do you want to come with me?"

 **[Quest (Optional): Become friends with Nadeshiko and go to Tadase's house. Rewards: + 10 Trust, +3 Baked Goods.]**

I glanced over at the quest in surprise. Apparently I could refuse her and not go, interesting. My gaze flickered over from that to my Charas, who were encouraging me to go.

I stared at Nadeshiko for a moment, trying to figure out her actual motivation. There was no way she only wanted to get Tadase and I together, was there? And I supposed going with her would give me a better chance to figure it out.

Besides, going would get me out of a dojo practice and a fancy party with the other gangs I didn't want to go to. Every year we had to have a nice, polite party with the other gangs to exchange gifts and promises and all that jazz. Being a mainly male dominated business, there were only a few girls there every year which meant being targeted by the other teen boys looking for a way to merge clans, not that I was important enough to do that. I mean, sure, I was one of the possible heirs, but it was more likely to go to Akira or Yuji (I did enjoy flirting with them, though). I still had no idea what I was going to do if I never got home.

Anyway, going would give me a better idea of what she wanted and against my better judgement, I agreed.

XXX

"Abusing our privileges, are we?" I teased, looking around the empty home ec. room. She had insisted on making food for Tadase, despite my protests that we could simply just bring him gummy worms. The look of complete exasperation on her face when I said that I was still bringing gummies despite attempting to bake, made me proud.

"Now, now, let's just say I'm using them to the fullest, shall we?"

XXX

"Man, I knew baking was hard but I didn't think it was that bad," I commented to myself after Nadeshiko left to get the fruit. Luckily for me, my stats were going up in baking.

"Nadeshiko's so nice," Ran giggled, Miki nodding along with her.

"Looks like you two can be friends." I chuckled.

"Were you going to disapprove of her before this?" I poked Miki on the nose, making her giggle as well. "Well, I guess I better make the filling. I'm a disaster when it comes to baking, so hopefully, I don't blow anything up."

"What about the cookies?"

"Those are easy. You should've seen the mess I made at home when I tried to bake." I shuddered, recalling the burnt smell and flour covered kitchen. "Terrifying."

 _"If first you don't succeed, try, try, again!"_ The bowl holding the filling started rattling, the whisk lifting into the air. _I-Is this Su? "To be able to do it alone, Aki-chan, Chara Chan-"_

 _Clap!_

The whisk dropped back into the bowl and the voice suddenly stopped as if it was cut off.

"Alright, time out," Ikuto posed dramatically on the edge of the windowsill, an arrogant smirk on his face. I glared at him and grabbed my school bag which held my eggs inside of it.

"Oh, it's the cosplay perv," I muttered, knowing his name full well. "What, did you come to drop me out the window this time?"

"No," He purred, glancing over at Ran and Miki. "So the first two weren't embryos either…but what about this one?" Yoru dropped a green egg in Ikuto's hand, much to my bafflement. _How did he…? I mean, I grabbed my bag before Yoru- I hate this universe._ "Is it the embryo?" I grimaced as he licked the egg.

"Do you really wanna do that? That's pretty creepy, dude. You don't even know where that thing's been." I scowled and slowly walked forward. "Now give her back."

"Her?"

"Give. Her. Back." I hissed, stopping right in front of him. He raised an eyebrow.

"And what if I say no?" I smiled sweetly at him before punching him in the gut and grabbing Su's egg, darting back out of his reach as he groaned. "Damn, you throw a good punch," He straightened up, a wince of pain still there. "But not bad enough to keep me down." I miscalculated how long his arms were, but luckily for me-

"Get away from her!" -It looked like my "Luck" stat was high enough that I wasn't about to deal with a whole other kettle of fish. I jumped back toward Nadeshiko, who was holding a platter of fruit. "Aki-chan, are you okay?" Well, at least the script was useful sometimes.

"Yeah, I'm good," I grinned. "And I'm ready to kick some butt."

"Temari! Chara-change!" Or not. Go ahead, steal the spotlight, I get it for the rest of the series, anyway.

"Yes, Ma'am!" Tamara floated in front of me and waved a flowery stick that looked similar to Nadeshiko's hair pins. "Chin, ton, shan!" There was a peaceful pause for a moment. Nadeshiko smiled serenely, then…

 ** _"URHYAAAAAAA!"_** I was expecting it, but it still made me jump when she swung her spear at the cat eared boy viciously. I snickered as I watched her completely destroy the home ec room along with everything in it. I already knew that the tart-thing was going to die in three… two…one… _Huh?_

Nothing happened.

 _Clang!_

Oh, never mind. There it was.

"Aki-chan, chara-change with us!"

"What do we do, what do we do!?" Both of my charas had amusing reactions to the tart falling, fluttering around me in panic. I just grinned and held up a finger as I saw the green egg come spinning out behind the counter.

 _"Don't panic, don't panic,"_ I always wondered how this took place in the span of one second or so. "Leave this to Su!" She had always been one of my favourites in the show. I loved how she was so ditsy sometimes and so smart other times. "Here I go, Aki-chan! Flaky and fluffy is the answer!" _To making a cake?_ "Chip! Syrup!" A giant bowl with a whisk appeared out of thin air. How did they make things appear like that? "Whip cream!" She spun in a circle and winked, prompting a warm bubble, similar to the feeling I got with Ran, but not quite, to pop. I could feel my arms and upper body strengthen as they moved automatically, flooding the room and the hall with whip cream.

Ikuto and Nadeshiko jumped out of the way of the massive wave but unfortunately, I wasn't as lucky. At some pint, I lost my grip on the whisk and flew off into the current.

"Are you kidding me?!" I hissed, flailing wildly to avoid drowning in whip cream. Man, that would've been embarrassing. "This is like a freaking lake!" Thankfully, we were stopped after about a minute or so but I whacked my head into the wall, making me groan. "Would it kill you guys to hatch in a nice, calm, peaceful way?" I lifted my arm and sighed, knowing that I was going to have a heck of a type getting this out of my clothes.

"…The third one wasn't the embryo either?" Ikuto hummed, no cream on his clothes at all, the jerk. Stupid hot guys and their perfect appearances. I glared at him, getting a raised eyebrow in return.

"Aki!" Ran shouted from the home ec room, "The tart!"

XXX

"It's fine," I picked up the shards of the tart and placed them on the pan carefully. "We can just put it in a bird feeder or something. Good thing I have gummy worms, right?" I forced at grin at Nadeshiko.

No matter what I said, I was honestly hoping that the outcome would change, at least a little. I worked hard to make it, and it was destroyed so easily. When I put it that way, it sounded like my life in a nutshell, but you can always rebuild it, right?

"Aki-chan," Nadeshiko murmured, looking at me with pity filled eyes. I hated that look. Pity. I never knew why, but it always drove me crazy. I relaxed and gave her a more natural smile.

"Really, it's fine," I assured.

"Aki-chan, it's okay!" Su chirped from the counter, leaning forward. "We can make cookies instead, look!" She gestured to the dough left on the table, poking it with a finger.

"Always the cookies with you guys," I chuckled, making Su tilt her head. "Never mind, thanks, Su." She beamed at me.

"Aki-chan, chara-change!"

XXX

"Cookies, cookies, cookies," Ali sang from my bed, munching on a couple I let her have. "These are pretty good."

"I'd hope so, considering it's pretty much the same recipe we use at Hana-san's," I hummed, pouring the rest into a small box with some gummy worms to annoy Nadeshiko. I tied it up quickly and neatly using a purple ribbon. My charas looked impressed.

"Go, go, Aki!" Ran cheered, getting herself tangled in the other ribbons I had out. "Woah!" I rolled my eyes and picked her up, carefully pulling them off of her.

"You're pretty good at this," Miki commented.

"Kiki-nee is always the one who wraps the Christmas gifts," Ali explained, getting up and going over to my closet. "What are you wearing tomorrow?" She frowned. "Are all your clothes in your inventory?"

"I don't know and yes, they are," I rolled the ribbons back up into their respective rolls and placed them into a bag. She pouted.

"Mean, I wanted to help pick something out," She flopped back on the bed, closing her eyes. Ali really didn't do much after school besides homework but at school, she was a superstar. It was pretty weird to watch.

"I figured, so I put it in my inventory," I tapped the bag twice, making it disappear along with the box. The charas were now used to my strange abilities, except Su, who got amazed every time I did it. Makes my day more interesting.

XXX

"Hinamori-san," Tadase was right on time, as I suspected. He looked a little surprised at my outfit and to be fair, it was a little different. My outfit was almost completely black (since those were the only clean clothes I had at the moment) with a bowler hat, a grey tie, and dark blue jeans. I also put on lipstick for fun since I had extra time before I left. Ali was sulking because I didn't put any other makeup on. "Fujisaki-san said she was running late, so I came instead," He smiled politely at me.

"Here," I handed him the box with ribbons on it. "Nadeshiko and I made cookies yesterday and there were extra," I explained, my other hand in my pocket. "Do you like butterscotch?" He blinked at me in surprise, then looked down at the box and back up.

"I do," He smiled, his posture relaxing. I guess I was a little intimidating at first with my resting bitch-face. "Thank you." I grinned back at him.

"No problem,"

"What an insolent commoner!" Kiseki looked offended as he floated down. "No treats for your king?" I rolled my eyes.

"Nope, only Tadase-kun because he doesn't call me a commoner," I paused. "Come to think of it, you call me by last name," I hummed, glancing over at the blond. "You can call me Aki, you know." He looked somewhat flustered by my offer. "Or you can call me by my last name if it's too scary," I teased, making him flush slightly.

"Aki, Aki," Ran floated down excitedly, drawing my attention away from Tadase, which he looked relieved about. "These houses are _so_ big!" I hummed, looking around.

"They are pretty big compared to our house, aren't they?" I mused, catching Miki's and Su's awed expressions. They looked at me pleadingly. "W-What?"

"Could we go explore?" Su bounced excitedly.

"Pleeeeease?" Miki added.

"We'll be careful!" Ran insisted. I hesitated. Well, I had the map to find them if they got lost, so I supposed they would be fine. I bit my lip.

"Okay," They cheered but I held up my hand. "But if you get lost, go right back home, okay?"

"'Kaaaaay!" They flew off faster than I had even seen them go, darting around the sky like hummingbirds. I sighed, placing a hand on my hat.

"Why do I get the feeling that I'm going to regret this later?"

XXX

I whistled, taking in the size of his house.

"Wow, this place is huge! What do you do with all this space?" Tadase chuckled, pushing open the door to his house, leading me around to the garden. "Wait, that wasn't even-?…Wow." I tried to make a mental map so that I wouldn't get lost later on. "Do you have siblings here?" Tadase slowed down as we reached the back of the house, shaking his head.

"No, just my parents, my grandmother, and I. Sometimes my uncle comes by and stays for a while too, but only around one a month," He answered, sitting down gently on the wooden porch and gesturing to me to join him. I obliged, the scenery reminding me of the dojo. "I'm glad you agreed to join the Guardians, although I'm not sure who told you to," He spared a curious glance at me. "But with you at our side, our hearts would be strengthened. I'm sure we could find the embryo together." And back to the script. _Darn, I was enjoying that off script stuff._ "We need your strength."

"You have a dream too," I stated, looking away from him and back up to the sky. His eyes reminded me of Sora's. I ignored the pang in my chest and reached a hand up to fiddle with my locket.

"Yes," He confirmed what I already knew. "You have five Guardian Charas. Normally, people have one or two at most and you can do character transformations as well. If you join us, we will become a mighty stronghold." He turned at smiled at me again. I grinned, already knowing what I was going to say next.

"Big words for a little _prince,_ " I emphasized, a smirk slowly slithering across my face. He blinked, his face going blank for a moment.

"Prince…?" A golden crown popped into existence on his head, his voice turning dark. "Did you just call me a _prince?"_ He stood up, a fire blazing in his eyes as he glared at me fiercely. "Don't call me a _mere_ Prince!" He almost shrieked, whirling around to me with an evil glint in his eye and an insane grin. _Oh my god, this is amazing,_ I choked back a laugh, my grin spreading from ear to ear. He started laughing, slowly at first, then built up to the crazy maniacal laugh I knew so well.

"Oh, it's been a while since we've seen our lord," Kukai's voice commented from the left, making me glance over. Nadeshiko and Yaya were there too, watching the commotion.

"When Tadase gets like this, he's unstoppable!" Yaya bubbled excitedly. I eyed the blond with a calculative eye. _I wonder how strong he gets like this, and what his average time is for chara-changes. Does he still change if Kiseki's not around?_

"Listen up, my subjects!" He whirled around to the rest of the guardians, pointing a demanding finger at them. "Don't dress me with such a petty title as _prince,_ " He spat. "It's _King!"_ I couldn't hold it in anymore, I burst out into laughter, Tadase joining me but sounding much more evil. "We will aim for world domination!"

"You guys are helping him take over the world because?" I drew out the last word, still snickering.

"Because it's fun!"

XXX

"Now, now, Tadase-kun," I waved a hand flippantly towards the completely mortified teen crouching in a corner of the yard. "It wasn't that bad."

"When I do a chara-change, I become like that," He mumbled, not looking at any of us. "You're disgusted, right, Hinamori-san?" I blinked.

"No, why would you say that? It was great," I took off my hat and ran a hand through my hair, ruffling it. "Why would I be disgusted at another side of you or who you want to be?"

"Actually, I'm not cut out to lead as the king's chair," He continued downtroddenly. Yaya leaned over and whispered in my ear.

"That's right, Tadase is actually a shy little boy," She informed me.

"People say he looks frightened in front of audiences," Nadeshiko added.

"It's true…" He trailed off for a second. "That's why I wished for it, to have a stronger, different would-be self." I hummed. "Then a guardian egg was born-"

"And I became Tadase's would-be self," Kiseki glided down to his owner. "That _is_ what a Shugo Chara is, after all." There was a beat before Kukai jumped on Tadase, pulling him up roughly.

"Don't be acting depressed," He scolded. "Cheer up, gutless king!"

"You know, Tadase-kun," I interjected after a silence, "I don't think that you being nervous or shy makes you unfit for being in the king's chair."

"That's right, Tadase," Kiseki agreed, nodding.

"Jeez, not you too, Kiseki," The blond groaned, making me chuckle.

"Ne, Tadase-kun," He looked over curiously. "I don't think being shy or being nervous in front of crowds makes you unfit for the king's chair."

"Eh?" I grinned at him.

"That just means you still have room for improvement and that you're trying hard." The guardians looked at me with wide eyes as I smiled at the blond.

"…Woah," Kukai breathed, getting off of Tadase, "Was that almost a _compliment?"_ My smile dropped and I scowled at him. "That was really nice all of a sudden, are you sick?"

"I can be nice too," I sulked, puffing my cheeks up out of habit. "I just happen to frown when I'm thinking, so people think I'm mean."

"And you beat people up," Miki scoffed, floating over the walls of the house, the other charas on her heels.

"Only if they deserve it," I protested. "When did I last attack someone unprovoked?"

"This morning."

"Okay, Akira doesn't count," I paused. "Wait, he provoked me, was are you talking about?"

"You called him a stupid cat,"

"He _is_ a stupid cat," I argued, the back and forth amusing the other teens in the yard. "Besides, he calls me Karma!"

"Karma?" Yaya parroted, exchanging glances with the group. "Why does he call you that?" I allowed myself an impish smirk.

"Because Karma is a bitch."

XXX

 **[A/n]: Whoo, crazy long chapter! That was almost 6,000 words! Now that all the original charas are hatched, when do you think the other two will? Find out next time on A Green Fall!**

 **[Aki]: Thanks for reading! All reviews are appreciated!**


	12. English, English, English

**Thanks to NekoFace for F/F!**

Chapter Twelve

English, English, English.

XXX

I bit my thumb in aggravation, rewatching Aki's video diary from today for the millionth time. Although it wasn't the same Aki I now knew.

"She's making the same choices again," I ran a hand through my hand with a scowl, watching the Aki on video speak, lighting up my dark room.

 _"On October 27th, I'll be cleansing a classmate's egg, I don't remember what her name was, but she will be moving overseas to America,"_ She informed me, the same squeeze in my chest that I got every time I watched a video crushing my heart. She was _my_ Aki… but she was gone now. She died a long time ago… or should I have said she dies soon in the future?

Either way, it didn't matter. I wouldn't ever get to see her again, but if I could save _this_ Aki, it was worth it. I was given a second chance by Rei, and I wasn't about to waste it.

 _"On my way home, I was starting to feel a bit sad, but Shiori showed up and made me feel better,"_ She smiled softly at the camera. _"She was so weird, the day we first met, but by grade six, I straightened her out. She didn't make as many dirty jokes, at least."_ I snapped the tab closed, my expression darkening.

I **hated** acting so…so… _stupid._ God, I was such an obnoxious brat.

But I knew that if I didn't be like that, she would've just pushed me away. If I didn't act childish, stupid, perverted, and stubborn at first, she would've been able to tell. She would've been able to tell that I wasn't who I said I was. Aki would've noticed something was off about me and she wouldn't let me in, and that would be the end of that. A small price to pay, I supposed.

 _"Hello?"_ A crackly masculine voice came in through the speakers of my computer, startling me out of my thoughts. _"Is anyone there? Hello? Alexis, are you sure this is going to work?"_ The voice sounded doubtful.

I had until April 19th of next year to change the future.

XXX

"Gah, Shisui, get off of me!" Aki struggled to get away from her older brother who was hugging her tightly.

"But you're so cute in your uniform," He cooed, releasing her to take some more pictures. He was definitely his father's son. "Stand still, I want to record this!"

"We're going to be late," Aki grumbled, glaring at him and fixing her tie. "And Ali isn't even ready yet!"

"Now, now," Shouta soothed from the couch. "She'll only be a few minutes." The green haired girl scoffed.

"When has Ali been "just a few minutes"?"

XXX

"Ara, it's Shi-chan," Ali leaned over the counter to greet him as I returned some dishes from other customers to the kitchen. "Hi, Shi-chan!" The orange haired boy gave her a small smile. He was a good two years younger than us, so Ali liked giving him a nickname. That seemed to become a theme in my life. Everyone had to have a nickname, no matter how ridiculous.

"Good afternoon, Ali-chan," He greeted, shifting the bag on his shoulders slightly. "How's your day been?"

"Kiki won't let me test out my new makeup on her," She groaned, switching out the muffins on the tray for newer ones. We'd probably get to take the old ones home, which made making lunches for my siblings and I easier.

"Because the last time you made makeup, it was horrible," I reasoned, coming back out of the kitchen. Akira, who was beside Ali, nodded in agreement.

"I don't agree with Karma on much, but that was pretty scary."

"Well _excuse_ me," She muttered, scowling. Shima chuckled at our antics.

"That's true, you two never agree on anything," He commented, still amused. I rolled my eyes and glanced over at Akira.

"Only because this _cat_ is stupid," I retorted, gaining a glare from the blond.

"Says the girl who wrote her entire essay backwards by accident," He quipped, egging me on.

"Says the boy who thought that teachers lived at the school until last year."

"Moron."

"Dumbass."

"Asshole."

"You're such a jerk sometimes- Ali, don't pester the guests!" I dropped our fight when I saw my twin start chatting with the customers about trying out her new makeup. _"Jeez, this family!"_ I scowled.

XXX

"And with that…" Daichi floated up in front of my face, blocking my view for a second, only to have Kukai and Yaya pop up out of nowhere. It was after school on Monday so I had to go to the Guardians.

"Aki-chan's personal guardian cape!" Yaya cheered happily, gesturing to the bright red cape Kukai was holding up.

"Not happening."

XXX

"Love-ly st-ah, twinkle!" Ami sang loudly- and quite off key I might add, much to my older brother's and my parent's delight. I came down to grab a glass of water before going to bed but got caught up in the noise.

"You guys are gonna wake up the neighbours," I grumbled, passing Shouta on the way to the stairs. "Keep it down a bit."

"Okay, Ami-chan, do you want to take a bath with Papa or Mama tonight?" Mom asked, smiling at my little sister and ignoring my annoyed comment. She thought about it for a moment before brightening. This series of events felt familiar, so I guessed that something was going to happen again soon.

"Today, Papa!"

"I'm touched!" He looked at her adoringly and swept her up in a hug. "Someday, we won't be able to take a bath together anymore!" That bit was obviously directed at me. I rolled my eyes.

"What thirteen-year-old girl in her right mind would take a bath with her dad?" I scoffed, reaching the top of the stairs and entering my room. I glanced around my room, surprised that there were no extra bodies in my room other than the charas. Sighing, I walked out onto the balcony for fresh air and debated climbing onto the roof. It would give me a better view. I stepped back and leaned against the cold stone, trying to judge the distance I would have to climb up when-

"What are you doing?" I sucked in a startled breath and pressed back against the stone wall, away from the upside-down teenager that had appeared.

 **"She's surprised, she's surprised,"** The trio of charas chorused unhelpfully, lying down on the wall casually. Ikuto landed gracefully on the balcony -annoyingly so- and gave me a scrutinizing gaze.

"Leaning back like that is only going to make you fall down," He teased, making me scowl.

"What, are you here for the other eggs? I can pretty much guarantee you that they aren't embryos," I huffed, crossing my arms. I wasn't sure what was going to happen here. He was supposed to come after all the eggs were hatched and he was certain that none were embryos. "I'll kick your ass if you try to take any." I warned, making him raise an eyebrow.

"Oh? Such a feisty creature. You'll never get a boyfriend that way,"

"Who says I wanted one?" I retorted, making him shake his head. "What do you want?" He lifted a plastic bag filled with candies, making my eyes light up. _Candy!_ I snatched the bag away and examined the contents for anything strange. "Thanks, I guess."

"This is for you. To "repay the debt," he says," Yoru explained. I raised an eyebrow.

"Are you his interpreter now?"

"There are a lot of snacks!" Su exclaimed, tumbling into the bag, her sisters following.

"Like something you would get at your grandma's," Miki agreed in amusement.

"You made these, right?" _Ah, yes, this is the kid who can't tell the difference between treats,_ I snickered. "Some snacks like these?"

"I made a tart, doofus," I chuckled, shaking my head. "That's completely different."

"Well, snacks are all basically the same," He hummed, ignoring what I called him. I stared at him incredulously.

"Are you saying cookies and cakes are the same things? I mean, they're completely different."

"They're both sweet."

"…" I took in the boy in front of me, wondering what I could do to help him in some way. Knowing the character he was, even if I tried to help him, he wouldn't let me.

"Well, that's it," Yoru declared, prompting Ikuto to move.

"H-Hey!" I called out without thinking, almost as if I didn't want him to leave. A thousand thoughts raced through my mind, all the ways I could help him, all the things that I could say- "If you need help, you can come here, okay?" _And the dorkiest thing comes out. Thanks, brain._ He paused, then chuckled.

"I can take care of myself, kid," He snickered, making heat rise onto my face from a mixture of annoyance and embarrassment. _I'm half a year older than you, brat! You're sixteen right now!_ "Hey… Don't search for the embryo. If you continue to assist the kiddy king, we will become enemies." With that, he jumped off the balcony swiftly and disappeared, leaving me alone with the charas.

"Yeah, big words for someone who'll come crawling back," I muttered.

"What do you mean, Aki-chan?" Su wondered. I shook my head.

"Nothing."

XXX

"Nice weather today," Nadeshiko took a sip of her tea on the spread out blanket they had laid out outside.

"Indeed, a perfect day for servant training," Kiseki agreed, Pepe nodding.

"They're giving it a lot of effort!" She paused. "Well, Kukai is, at least."

"C'mon, Hinamori!" Kukai egged me on, attempting to get the top around me so that he could drag me off to god knows where. "Let's go!"

"No way in hell," I balked, swatting the eighth grader's hands away. "You're just gonna make me run." He grinned at me.

"Right on," He confirmed. "Well, if you aren't going to come willingly…" He snatched my hand and yanked me forwards, starting to dash, dragging me with him. "Then I'll just have to take you with me!"

"Goddamn it," I cursed, trying to drag my feet to stop him. I may have signed up for martial arts, but that didn't mean I wasn't lazy. I supposed I could've stopped him if I really wanted to, but that would've required more effort than it was worth.

"Time to go faster!" He shouted, tearing past the Guardians who watched on calmly, eating their snacks.

"Fight, fight!" Yaya cheered as we passed by the second time.

 **[+1 Endurance, +1 Speed]**

"Why do I have to do this?" I groaned, allowing him to lead. "I could probably outrun you if I wanted."

"I doubt that~" Kukai sang, making my eye twitch. "Besides, if you can't handle something like this, you'll never accomplish the joker's special duties."

"I can handle it, I just don't want to do it," I grumbled, mildly annoyed that he wasn't even out of breath yet. Just as suddenly as he started, Kukai stopped and spun on his heel, arms out to catch me if I needed it. I bonked into his chest and stumbled back, disoriented, but he caught my shoulders and steadied me.

"…Thanks,"

"No prob," He chuckled, releasing me. "Do you even know what your special duties are?"

"Uh…" I paused, thinking, knowing he didn't mean the ones Tsukasa gave me. Man, those orders were annoying. "X-egg hunting and finding the embryo?"

"That's right! If we let those X eggs go out of control, there'd be all kinds of trouble. That's why the joker's duty is finding the eggs and sealing them."

"What did you do before having a joker? Did you have to… you know… destroy them?" He let out a sigh.

"Yeah, in the worst case, we have to destroy them for the safety of others," He smiled at me. "But don't worry, that doesn't happen often."

"I don't know if I would be able to do that," I hummed. "Destroying someone's dream… Unless they were a complete jerk face, it would be really hard for me to do that."

"Hmmm…" He tousled my hair, making me swat his hands away. "You aren't as scary as you like to act, huh?"

"I don't try to act scary," I muttered. "I just have a bad habit of glaring at people."

"Right."

 **[+4 Friendship with Sohma Kukai]**

XXX

"Have you seen the school newspaper?" Shiori asked during lunch break. "They say you and Sohma-senpai are 'in love'," She snickered, making air quotes. "They even had a picture!" I rolled my eyes.

"Ah, yes, I'm in love with the person in my club who forced me to join and have only known for maybe two weeks. Makes sense," I snorted, stabbing a piece of sausage with my fork. "Who even is bored enough to follow me around and create gossip? Maybe I should go and flirt with a bunch of boys to see what would happen."

"You would get a bad rep, is what would happen," Shiori answered, talking around her mouthful of food. I winced.

"Swallow before you talk, buddy. Do the teachers even monitor anything at this school?"

"I doubt it, considering the amount of times you've skipped class and gone to Shisui's office."

"True."

"I mean, not even Shisui did anything to get you back to class."

"Because he knows it's a lost cause," I snickered, "I got revenge afterwards once." Shiori nodded knowingly.

"The red hair dye in the shampoo."

"Always works."

XXX

"Really? You're transferring overseas so suddenly?"

"Where are you going?" A group of my classmates gathered around a girl I vaguely recalled as Hatoba, babbling about her moving.

"America," She forced a smile, obviously upset about the whole thing. Poor kid. Parents shouldn't rip their children from their homes only to drop them on a completely new place, especially if it's a foreign country.

"Cheer up," One of her friends smiled at her. "Even if we're separated, we're still friends."

"Yeah, that'll never change," Another agreed. Hatoba looked somewhat relieved for a moment but her expression changed abruptly as her friend spoke.

"Give me your new information, I'll call you," One girl offered.

"Liar."

"Huh?" An ominous voice interrupted their exchange.

 _"Character change~"_ It whispered, making shivers run down my spine. _Oh no, I forgot about this,_ I cursed, getting ready to dash out the doors.

"What was that?" Ran wondered. "Aki, did you hear it too?"

"Yeah, it was an x-egg," I murmured, not wanting my classmates to overhear, watching the commotion go down in the back of the classroom.

"Liar!" Hatoba accused angrily, throwing down the school books on the floor. "You _will_ change! You'll change and forget me!"

"Yuki-chan, we would never…" Her friend looked incredibly hurt.

"That's so mean," Another girl's voice broke. "How could you say that?" Hatoba looked like she was about to either cry or scream in rage. After a pregnant pause, she ran out into the hall and didn't look back. "Yuki-chan!" And that was my cue to go after her, the X egg floating right behind the poor girl.

"Aki!"

"Yeah!" I darted out of the classroom and skidded to a stop at the end of the hallway, almost whacking into a wall and a teacher. "Sorry!" I skirted around the man with orangey-brown hair and a tan suit, thinking nothing of it.

XXX

"Observatory, observatory," I groaned, racing down the yellow brick road. I hoped I wouldn't get swept up by a tornado, I had enough to deal with right now. "Where is the freaking observatory?" Of course, I could never find anything when I needed it. What would be the fun in that?

"Aki-chan, Aki-chan," Miki called, "It's over here!" She made her way over to a crossroads ad moved to the right, gesturing at the old, ominous looking building.

"Of course it is," I sighed, slowing down to a job and ducking underneath the metal chain. I raked my gaze around the area, looking for Hatoba to appear. "Come to think of it, she doesn't appear at first, does she? She comes after meeting the Guardians…"

"Aki-chan, what are you talking about-desu?" Su queried.

"Well, long story short…" I briefly explained to her what I had told Ran and Miki, about generally knowing how things were going to happen in the "plot" and my "special" abilities.

"Oh, I see," She smiled sweetly at me. I raised an eyebrow.

"Did you understand any of what I was saying?" She laughed sheepishly.

"Not at all, desu," I sighed and pushed open the doors of the observatory, deciding to just sit in one of the chairs and wait for the x-character instead of just standing outside. She would come eventually without my meddling.

I sat down in one of the chairs in the first row, leaning back to enjoy the view. Maybe I should've come here more often.

But the peace didn't last long.

 _"Do you like English?"_

 **[English Selected]**

 _"Wow,"_ I hummed, now speaking English thanks to my automatic translator thing- I didn't know how it worked, and I wasn't about to question it. _"You have pretty good pronunciation for someone who speaks Japanese. You guys normally screw up your Ls and Rs,"_ I gave the x-character a thumbs up, seeming to befuddle it. _"Do you know any tongue twisters?"_ I asked, making it scowl at me.

 _"Mistake!"_ It screeched, shooting purple covered blue letters at me, bouncing them off of the chairs. I vaulted over one of the chairs and poked my head up over the seat.

 **[Japanese Selected]**

"Excuse you," I growled indignantly at the x-character, "My English was fine!"

 _"…I'm scared,"_ Hatoba's terrified voice echoed in the abandoned room softly. "I don't want to go. I can't learn English! My friends will change! I don't want to change!" Her sentences overlapped each other, cutting off bits and pieces. _Poor girl,_ I felt my heart squeeze a little. It wasn't fair for her to have to leave.

"Hinamori-san!" How I didn't notice Kukai and Tadase appear, I would never know. You would think I would've heard the doors or seen the light, but nope. "Be careful, that character was born from an x-egg! An x-character!"

"No crap, Sherlock," I ducked back down after another shot from the x-character.

 _"Yes,"_ It grinned, twirling around to me. _"I'm an X-character!"_ Its words were garbled but I could vaguely make it out. I ignored the two boys who ran over to me, avoiding the negative energy.

"Oh yeah, that was _great_ pronunciation, dude! I have no idea what that last word even was!"

"Aki, stop taunting the x-character!" Ran begged.

"It did it first!" I argued. "It refused to do tongue twisters too!" Kukai looked at me strangely.

"You asked an x-character to do _tongue twisters?"_ He asked incredulously.

"Gotta problem?" He grinned at me.

"No, that's awesome," He snickered. "I knew you should've joined the Guardians."

"Yeah, yeah, let's deal with that later," I waved the compliment away, secretly pleased by it. "How do I make it go back?" Their expressions turned serious.

"You'll have to character transform," Kukai informed me. Damn, I was hoping there'd be some other way to do it, not that I didn't like transforming, it was just… revealing.

"Please do, Hinamori-san!" Tadase agreed.

 _"I haaaate~"_ The x-character sang, interrupting our conversation it was rather intimidating, now that I thought about it. Not as much as getting my ass kicked by my teacher or fighting five people, but intimidating. _"I hate!"_ Hatoba's voice started up again, repeating the same phrases she said before, only even faster and with more urgency.

 _"I'm scared! I don't want to change! My friends will change,"_ She wailed. _"I don't want to change!"_ I sighed.

"What a pain in the butt," I paused and watched their faces fall. "Although I suppose I'd feel guilty if I left my classmate like this." I grinned and stood up, ignoring the wind whistling past my ears, placing my fingers around the lock. "Ran!"

"Yeah!"

"My heart, unlock!" As expected, the ribbons appeared again, the light blinding everyone in the vicinity. I almost felt bad for Tadase, who was right beside me. The ribbons swirled around me and covered my body, changing my clothes and hair, then quickly disappearing with a flashy pop, leaving me with the familiar clothes I saw on TV.

 _"Character Transformation! Amulet Heart!"_ I was dropped unceremoniously on the ground, facing the x-character.

"Do it, Hinamori!" Kukai egged me on as he had done with the training a few days ago. I grinned at him before kicking off one of the seats, sending me flying into the air.

 _"Hey, come on!"_ The x-character laughed, wriggling out of my grasp. I dropped back to the ground and frowned. _Screw this, I'm doing it my way,_ I thought. _"Destroy!"_

 **[English Selected]**

 _"Red leather, yellow leather!"_ I shouted, dodging a blast. _"Tina the tiny tiger tied her tiny tail! I switched my Irish wristwatch for a Swiss wristwatch! Peter piper picked a peck of pickled peppers!"_ I snickered. It was working.

"What's she doing?" Kukai hissed.

 _"The lips, the teeth, the tip of the tongue!"_ I paused for a second. _"You know, those are supposed to be all of your articulators but that leaves out the hard palate. Very inaccurate if you ask me."_ The x-character took this moment to hit me with a large group of letters, causing me to grunt.

 **[Japanese Selected]**

"Ow, that hurt," I mumbled, Hatoba's cries finally getting to me. "Look here, Hatoba-san, whether you like it or not, people are going to change!" I stated bluntly. "But changing doesn't always mean the worst. I mean, I've changed a hell of a lot during the past few years, both physically and mentally, and it's done me some good to get whacked around by life a bit!"

 _"Eh?"_ I planted my feet on the ground, knowing that the force that was returned was pretty strong. _I will change! I_ ** _will_** _change how things happen in this story!_

"Negative heart, lock on!" I took a deep breath and let the power build up in the lock. _I won't be just a replacement!_ "Open heart!"

 _"Oh, no!"_ It wailed as the x on its head cracked under the pressure of the lock, shattering into pieces.

"Alright," Kukai shouted approvingly. "You got it!"

"No, it was…" Tadase trailed off, watching the black gook slowly drip off of the Chara, leaving us with a… flight attendant?

 _"Attention please,"_ She winked at us, then floated down to see me. _"Thank you, Aki-chan!_ Because of you, I'm fine now!" I gave her a lopsided smile and a thumbs up.

"Anytime,"

"Keep this a secret for me, would you, Aki-chan? I'll sleep a while longer until the day Yuki realizes herself," I nodded and gave her a small wave as her egg appeared around her. "See you again!" The egg soared off, out of the room.

"…Bye bye," I hummed, Ran popping out of my body, leaving me with the regular old me.

XXX

"Change, huh," I mulled the word over on my walk home from school. What Hatoba said rang with me. When I thought about it, I was just a giant hypocrite. I said change wasn't always bad and that being whacked around by life did me good, but I was still scared back then. In fact, I still was scared.

Scared of what? What was I scared of?

Being alone, being stuck here forever, butterflies -don't judge-, deep water, man-made heights like skyscrapers, people, losing my eyesight, losing a limb, losing my family, losing my friends, losing…

"Kiki!" Shiori's voice yanked me back to reality. "What are you doing out here so late?" She jogged across the street in casual clothes to meet me, looking curious.

"I had some stuff to do," I excused poorly. "You?" She grinned.

"I was about to go get some ice cream, you wanna come?" She offered. I returned the grin with a smile and shifted my bag onto my other shoulder.

"Do it, do it!" Ran cheered.

"Get some for us too!" Miki agreed. I rolled my eyes discreetly.

"Sure, why not?"

XXX


	13. IMPORTANT!

_**This isn't an update, but this is incredibly important.**_

 **I don't know how many of you live in or have heard about what's going on in Alberta Canada right now in Fort McMurray but it's very bad. An enormous wildfire has destroyed around 80% of the town and has pushed hundreds of thousands out of their homes.**

 **news/alberta/the-fort-mcmurray-fire-heres-how-you-can-help-and-receivehelp/article29850877/**

 **That link is to an article that explains what is going on and how you can help. If any of you need help in any way, please let me know and I will try to help you as much as I can. Below is taken from the article.**

WHO TO CONTACT

If you're trying to find a loved one or need evacuation information, you can call the regional municipality at 780-762-3636 or the Red Cross at 1-888-350-6070.

Facebook also activated its safety-check feature for the Fort McMurray fire, an option for those who want to reassure their family and friends that they're okay.

* * *

HOW TO OFFER HELP

Money: Click here to donate to the Red Cross. You can also donate $5 by texting "REDCROSS" to 30333. The Alberta and federal governments have said they'll match private donations to the Red Cross.

Supplies: Here's a crowdsourced Facebook page to connect Fort McMurray residents needing items with volunteers providing them.

Shelter: Airbnb has waived its service fees for those affected by the disaster.Here's where you can check in to offer or seek accommodation.

Volunteers: Those interested in volunteering through the regional municipality can apply here.

 **If you could help even a little, it would be incredibly appreciated, my country needs some help and there have been many amazing people helping us already.**

 **Thank you!**


	14. Let's Play!

**Thanks to GraceHeart27, That-Stubborn-Biotch, SongsofSiren, Pandakat312, Yukio00, Arrow-chan3, Rsur Thorai, and emoBUTshy for F/F!**

 **GraceHeart27: Glad you enjoyed it! Here's your next chapter sorry it was so late!**

 **[A/n]: So sorry that I've taken this long to update! I've been in a bit of a slump lately so I should be able to update more frequently now that I've gotten out of it. I've been MIA for the last two weeks and a half because I was going up to my cottage which, unfortunately, doesn't have any internet. (Teenage horror story right there).**

 **I promise that there'll be more interesting stuff coming up soon!**

 _Chapter Thirteen,_

 _Let's Play!_

 _XXX_

"Tsukasa," I growled irritatedly as I laid on the couch of his apartment, going through the pictures on his phone. "Stop taking candid photos of me!" There were at least ten randomly taken photos of me in the past few weeks. How many he actually had was beyond me.

"Says the girl who's going through someone else's phone," He chuckled from the kitchen, making some sort of snack for himself. I could sense a wave of amusement come from our telepathic connection. It kind of automatically started up whenever I was around him. It was uncomfortable, to say the least, that he could tell what I was feeling at any given moment. "Anyway, how's the assignment going, Alexis?" I let out a huff and patted the pages on the table in front of me.

"There are a few jealous boyfriends but other than that, there are no threats to Tadase-kun," I drawled uninterestedly. "Just like last week, the week before, and the week before that." Every week I had to come and report to Tsukasa about any problems within the school or any complications with the Guardians/Tadase. It was boring, to say the least.

You would think that someone as nice and "princely" as Tadase would have some type of dark side or double life, but no. Of course not. Once I followed him to double check about word of a stalker, and he just went straight home! How dull is that?

Okay, so maybe I was overreacting but still. Couldn't he have something other than the "I hate all black cats" thing?

"Good," Tsukasa hummed, the green bar floating over his head indicating that he was pleased. "Remember to stop any harmful thing from getting to my dear nephew, would you?"

"Yeah, yeah," I grumbled, remembering his order. "Don't let Tadase get a scratch." _Although, if he gets a bruise or two, it won't be against orders._ "Gimme some of that cake." Tsukasa floated into the living room and placed a piece of cake on the table, much to the delight of my charas.

"Ne, Alexis, have you ever tried Yoga?"

XXX

"Aki~," Ran drew out the two syllables of my name, lying on the counter of Hana's cafe _\- Sweets and Treats-_ lazily, obviously unhappy. "I'm so bored! Why do we have to come here every day?"

"It's not every day," I hummed to her quietly, making sure the customers wouldn't hear. There weren't many today and all of them were our regulars. I didn't want to scare them off. A lot of our regulars were police officers too, so I had to be careful. "It's usually only four times a week and I have to, otherwise I would get in major trouble with a bunch of "important people". Besides, I like it here and Hana-san could always use the help."

"That's for sure," Shouta groaned, coming out of the break room with Masaya, a smile on his face. "It gets pretty busy around here during lunch time." The redheaded chara floated down to mine, a grin on his face.

"Hey, Ran, why don't we go and play some soccer?" He offered. Ran jumped up, happy to have anything to do, her sisters being on some errands I sent them on. I wanted to keep Su in the store, so I asked her to clean the storage room and I sent Miki on a mission to buy some more erasers. I gave her some money so that she could pay the store and pick out her own things that she wanted as well. She probably knew more about art supplies than I did, to be honest. I only drew for fun, but I still wanted to get better at it.

Maybe I could ask her for some tips.

"Yeah!" Masaya was a Godsend, really. He always entertained the girls when I was trying to finish up some of my work, and occasionally hung out with us when my little brother was busy.

 _Speaking of little…_ I glanced over at my younger brother who was now almost taller than me. It was kind of annoying but he was only half a year younger than me - well, Aki- so it wasn't surprising that he was growing. _Doesn't make it any less irking._

 _Jingle!_

"Good afternoon," A meek voice greeted, drawing my attention to the door. In my musing, I had missed Shima coming through the door.

"Hi," I grinned back at him, having a slight soft spot for him. He was pretty shy, polite, and quiet- a rare occurrence in my hectic life. "Green tea, peanut butter and chocolate cookies?" He gave me a small smile.

"Yes, please," Shima responded, seeming to scan the area behind me. "No Akira-san or Shiori-san today?"

"Nope," I scowled, pulling out six cookies and waiting for Shouta to grab the tea. "The cat skipped even though he used the shop as an excuse to stay home. And who knows where that girl is." I sighed and shook my head, placing the cookies on a plate and handing it to Shima. "Oh well, it wasn't like I would've done anything besides chores and training if I stayed home." I sighed again, missing Yuji, who kept Akira on track. I supposed I could've kicked his butt and dragged him back, but Akira would just escape again anyway.

Speaking of Yuji, I hadn't seen him in almost a year and a half now. I probably wouldn't recognize him if I saw him.

"I understand," Shima let out a deep sigh, following my lead. "My parents have really been on me about my studies lately. I have good marks, so I don't know why." Shouta came back out to find Shima and I looking depressed.

"Woah, what happened?"

"…Everything," I groaned, stepping out from behind the counter to check on the other guests.

I weaved around the empty tables, making a note to wipe a few dusty ones down, moving towards a middle-aged woman sitting with a man of the same age.

"-I'm just saying, love is more than just a mixture of chemicals in the brain," She protested, aiming the words at the brown haired man sitting across from her. "It comes from the heart!" He scoffed at her words.

"Yuki, there are no reactions in the heart able to create the similar feeling to love." He paused for a second, thinking. "However, they did find that if you get stressed out enough your heart tendons can break." Yuki let out a groan, slamming her head against the table.

 _"Mara-!"_ I chuckled at their antics, having seen them around fairly often. I never learned their last names because they requested to be called by their first since "calling a married couple the same thing is difficult.". It was entertaining, to say the least. "Ah, Aki-chan, you can clear this up for us, can't you?"

"Yes, be the decider for us, would you? Love is a chemical reaction in the brain, not something that occurs in the heart tendons, correct?" Yuki giggled dreamily.

"It's your metaphorical heart," Mara stared at his wife blankly for a second before turning to me. Despite his serious exterior, he was actually a kind man.

I answered slowly, trying not to aggravate either side.

"Well, personally, I agree with Mara-san," I started, frowning in thought. "But I suppose it could also come from your metaphorical heart or soul."

"There's been no evidence that humans have a soul," Mara disproved.

"Well, I've never seen a kangaroo. Does that mean it's impossible to find one?" Yuki laughed at his resigned face.

"She got you, sweetheart," She chuckled. "Thanks, Aki-chan. Do you mind if I have a top up of my coffee? I think I'll need it for the rest of the day."

"Anytime, Yuki-san."

XXX

"Okay now, let's take roll call!" Our new teacher, Nikaido, scrambled to find the attendance sheet. His acting was pretty good. I'd originally planned to tell Tsukasa about him, but I figured that if Nikaido didn't get in, he'd probably just find a different, less trackable way to take the heart's eggs. Besides, knowing Tsukasa, he probably already knew about Nikaido's collaboration with Easter. "Uh, the roster was…" Nikaido piled books on top of each other and fumbled with a few papers, eventually managing to knock over one of them with his elbow, sending them tumbling down on his face, to the floor.

 _THUD!_

The class was instantly filled with laughter as I eyed Nikaido with disbelief. Sometimes I had to wonder if he was actually that clumsy. It was almost too convincing.

"But I guess you'd call this a 'lucky score'," He pulled the small black book off of his head, showing it to the class. "See, here's the roster." The class laughed even harder, prompting him to start calling the roll. "Let's see… Ando Inka-san?"

"Here!" Nikaido went through various other names before reaching mine, obviously mispronouncing it on purpose, just as he did with Amu.

"Himamori-san?"

"Hi _na_ mori," I corrected him. Nikaido gave me a bright smile.

"Ah, sorry, sorry, Himamori," He laughed, making me irritated. A lot of things were making me irritated lately. I blamed the hormones. Damned puberty.

XXX

"Have I ever told you I _hate_ school?" I complained to Shiori as we walked through the halls during lunch break. She grinned at me. "It's so boring!"

"Many times. Mostly after a school day ends."

"I don't need that sass from you," I muttered, ignoring the giggles of my charas. "I mean, have you seen how he acts?"

"Who?"

"Nikaido," I opened the door to go outside, walking towards the path, not noticing the flash of surprise in her eyes. "He's awful. He mispronounces my name on purpose."

"What does he call you?"

"…Himamori," I huffed, making her snicker.

"Well, you do have lots of-" I groaned, cutting her off. "Fine, fine, no puns." She leaned forward, her blue eyes sparkling with mischief. "So, any dark secrets in the Guardians?" Did I mention that my best friend was part of the newspaper club? No? Well, she was and it was oddly fitting for someone like her.

"No, not really," I lied, not telling her the truth for obvious reasons. "We just do a bunch of boring old paperwork and eat snacks." _And shoot pink lazer beams out of my hands and talk to magical tiny humans, but y'know, all in a day's work._ Shiori looked a bit disappointed.

"Aw, that's boring,"

"What did you expect? It's the student council."

"Well, I figured that there would be some weird love triangle, blackmailing, hidden information, etc. That's what always happens in the manga."

"Life isn't a manga."

"But it could be," She winked at me. "Anyway, how's it going at the martial arts zone?" I rolled my eyes with an annoyed huff.

"Sensei keeps wanting me to take on an apprentice or something like that but…"

"But?" Shiori pressed curiously.

"But all the beginners he's shown me are a bunch of useless bananas*. They have no incentive to train! What's the point of having an apprentice if they're just going to ignore you?" Shiori shrugged, shifting her bag strap onto her other arm.

"I dunno, maybe you just haven't found the right ones yet?"

"Maybe," I grumbled, noticing something ginger out of the corner of my eye. "…Is that Kukai? Where's he going?" There were a lot of people down the hill and lots of screaming too. _Fangirls. Joy._

"Well, considering he's the captain of the soccer club and it's after school, he's _probably_ going to the soccer club," Shiori guessed. "Wanna go take a look?"

"Let's go, Aki!" Ran cheered, pumping her fists excitedly.

"It's not like you have anything else to do," Miki snickered, starting to float down the hill we were passing by. I glared at them but it was true. I had no work to do today and I didn't really feel like doing homework either.

"C'mon, Kiki!" Shiori called, dashing down the hill. She almost fell on her face at one point.

"I'm coming, I'm coming," I replied, making my way down. "Jeez, could those girls shriek any louder?" My ears were starting to bleed. _Maybe I could lie and say that I have to train?_ I was starting to regret agreeing to check this out.

 _"Pass, pass!"_

 _"Send the ball this way!"_

 _"Oura-kun, defend!"_

 _"Gah!"_ I had to admit, it was entertaining to listen to the shouts of the soccer players and watch someone else other than my brothers play soccer. The only thing I was good at in soccer was playing goalie since I would instinctively punch the ball away.

While I glanced away, making sure my charas were still in one place - they tended to wander off when I wasn't looking- a ball hit my feet, rolling back a little from where I stood. Kukai waved at me from the field, wearing a blue vest of some kind.

"Hey, Hinamori, the ball, please!" I picked the ball up, noticing how beaten up and dirty it was, even for a soccer ball. _I'll have to mention the sports equipment conditions to Tsukasa…_

"Do it, Aki!" Ran gave me a crazed smile, horror dawning on me when I realized what was going to happen.

 _"Ran no-!"_

"Chara-change!" The odd bubbling sensation happened again, spreading warmth through my body. I still had yet to figure out why that happened - but it wasn't really my main concern at the moment.

I leaned back and dropped the ball, swinging my leg forward to boot it up high in the air, speeding back down and past the goalie. _Poor kid, probably absolutely baffled._ The whole team gaped at me in shock, making the internal me cringe. _Oh god, oh god, I did_ ** _not_** _want to gain any more attention from this school than I already had! Damn it, Ran!_ I was trying to be much less well known than the original heroine and be able to get information discreetly, but that didn't seem like it was going to happen anytime soon.

Regardless of what I did, the chara-changes always affected me at the same time, way, and place as Amu.

Kukai was the first to snap out of the stupor.

"Substitute!" He declared, pointing at me with a large grin on his face. I gave him a thumbs up.

"Yay!" **_Oh. My. God._**

 ** _Kill me now._**

XXX

"Ran…" I hissed, grabbing my chara tightly. "I'll flush you down the toilet!" We'd somehow managed to completely annihilate Kukai's entire soccer team - much to everyone's shock and thanks to the help of one of Kukai's team members. I think his name was Yamada? Shiori only saw the beginning since she had to go home to help out at her family's shop.

The worst part was that the eighth-grade gym teacher who was the club coach saw all of it. He looked very impressed and told me that he would recommend me for the girl's soccer team.

 _I can't remember… did this happen in the anime?_ My memory of the episodes were fading which was starting to make me panic. I couldn't change whatever Rei wanted me to change if I didn't remember what was going to happen. I could only hope that it didn't follow the manga closely since I hadn't actually read the entire thing. _Wait… Will this last the entire three seasons? I hated the last one since it was focused towards toddlers, essentially._ I scowled and Ran let out a terrified squeak.

"Aki-chan, don't be so hard on her," Nadeshiko, who I also discovered was watching later on, scolded me. "She just wanted to help." I sighed and released the pink haired chara who "hmph"ed at me, floating away. "You were great out there, Sohma-kun!"

"Of course!" Kukai puffed out his chest proudly. "I'm the captain, after all."

 _I need to start writing down what I remember,_ I thought to myself. _Or maybe I can use the old camcorder Shisui gave me for that too._ I'd started making video diaries to keep track of how long I'd been in the world. It didn't really serve any useful purpose but it made me feel a bit better.

Nadeshiko leaned forward in front of Kukai to see me, looking slightly worried.

"Something wrong, Aki-chan?"

"…It's nothing," I murmured, still only half paying attention. I needed to stop thinking so much. Go to the dojo and burn off my energy to the point where I didn't need to think. Unfortunately, I couldn't until the doctor cleared me from my injury. _I wish I could just turn off my brain._

"I bet she's just hungry," Kukai teased, giving me a grin. I rolled my eyes and walked over to the catwalk where I would usually go to the park. "Come watch the match tomorrow, yeah?"

"Hmm… I dunno, if the captain can't even beat a newbie at soccer, I think it'll just be a one-sided annihilation," I drawled in amusement, making him gasp in mock offence. "Oh! I guess that'd be entertaining to watch, though."

"Why you-!" I laughed and gave a small wave, jogging down the catwalk as Kukai cursed at me. I sped up and reached the end of it within seconds, rapidly changing over to a new, abandoned street.

"Inventory- granola bar," I ordered as soon as I was out of sight, holding my hand out as I slowed down my pace. It instantly appeared in the palm of my hand, still in the wrapper. I double tapped my bag, making it go into my inventory. I only carried a bag so I wouldn't look like a master magician. I'd actually had a few close calls when I've made things disappear by accident. For example, double tapping on my computer, phone, on a book while in thought, stuff like that. I actually once made my clothes disappear, but that's a story for another time.

I unwrapped the granola bar and started eating, watching as my hunger and stamina bars went up. I had to be careful since they were directly linked to each other. If one went down, so did the other. The worst part would be when I had dinner and I had to double tap my food discreetly so that it wouldn't look like I was skipping meals.

That's the price I have to pay for having a convenient shortcut, I supposed. I had five bars measuring my overall wellbeing in total, Stress, sleep, stamina, food, and health bars.

It was getting darker and the streetlights were starting to come on. My parents wouldn't notice I wasn't home until around 7:00 and it wasn't my turn to make dinner tonight, so I could stay out later. I decided to walk over to the park and sketch for a little while.

"Aki-chan, where are we going, desu?" Su questioned, floating behind me. For whatever reason, the charas didn't have levels but I could still locate them on my map. Weird.

"To somewhere quiet," I answered vaguely, taking a sharp left into the gravel path.

"Ah!" Ran exclaimed in surprise, looking in the opposite direction of where we were going. It was the path home over the bridge. "It's Yamada-kun!" _The soccer kid?_ Sure enough, it was. He was shooting a soccer ball at the wall repeatedly. _I hope he doesn't kick it into the lake by accident._

"He's practicing alone," Miki observed.

"He's a hard worker," Su smiled at him, Miki agreeing.

"It's great that he's practicing even when he's not a starter," She looked impressed. "Go for it!"

"Go for it!"

"Go for it!" They all turned to me expectantly. I gave them a small smile before turning to Yamada.

"…Go for it."

XXX

"- not really a genius," Some guy on the TV protested, looking somewhat smug anyway. He was kinda cute. He looked very flustered as the woman on the right continuously praised his work. Shisui snorted and rolled his eyes, stabbing at his dinner in amusement. _And people wonder where I get my attitude from._

"Ne, ne, onee-chan," Ali leaned over to whisper to me. "Where were you today?" I shrugged, not feeling like giving her an answer. If she really wanted to know, Ali would've located me on the map. Our youngest sister gasped and jumped up, standing on her chair.

"That guy is cool!" Ami squealed, looking star-struck, meat sauce all over her face. _He reminds me of all those "nice" popular guys in the manga that turn into jerks to the protagonists._ I stabbed a meatball with my chopsticks. Eating with chopsticks had taken a lot of getting used to, among other Japanese customs and traditions. Bowing at people was something else that definitely took some getting used to.

"Ami-chan, you shouldn't fall for this type of guy!" Dad was devastated, just as he always appeared to be whenever the topic of boys came up. He'd been twitchy around Akira and Yuji for a long time. I'd actually considered pretending I had a boyfriend just for the sake of freaking him out.

"Okada Shingo," Mom's eyes lit up and looked delighted that Ami liked him. "He's mysterious." Ali nodded in agreement. "The charismatic musician who automatically wins every award in every category he becomes active in!" _Impressive._

"And he's _cute,"_ Ali added with a grin.

"No, not my darling Ali-chan too!" My father wailed. Shisui glanced over at me curiously as I used a paper napkin to wipe off the mess on Ami's face. She squirmed but allowed me to scrub it off.

"What do you think, Aki?"

"Pardon?"

"What do you think about that guy?"

"When did this become a conversation about my preferences on guys?" I grumbled, but all eyes were on me. "I guess he's kinda cute. Not really who I'd go after though."

"Oho?" Shisui leaned forward, looking interested. "Does my baby sister have a boy she likes?" I gave him a deadpan stare.

"No," I answered flatly, much to his disappointment. Dad sighed in relief, his heath bar turning from a dark blue back to a green.

"I can't imagine Kiki-nee getting a boyfriend," Shouta commented in amusement. I waved a threatening chopstick at his face.

"Watch it, Shouta," I warned teasingly. "You're treading on thin ice there." I picked up my plate and ignored my father's wailing.

"Aki-chan getting a boyfriend?!"

"She's at that age, dear," My mom consoled him, making me snicker. "Oh, and Aki-chan, I made an appointment with the doctor's tomorrow. They'll be checking to see if you can go back to doing your martial arts again."

"Okay,"

I went upstairs to get some peace and quiet for the night. I also did a quick video of what happened that day and then flopped on the bed.

I hated how I could lay there for hours and not fall asleep unless my sleep bar was low.

 **[Quest: Gain One or More Apprentices (Optional but Recommended)]**

 **[Quest: Heal Heart's Egg (Mandatory)]**

 **[Quest: Go to the Doctor's Office (Optional but Recommended)]**

 _…Great._

XXX

"Remind me why I'm here again?" I eyed the Guardians sitting on a blanket laid out on the grass. Shiori had joined me again and was chatting with Yaya. They'd hit it off at some point, chatting about candies and boys. Nadeshiko gave me a friendly grin.

"Because you're here to show support for your friend," Nadeshiko offered me a spot on the blanket which I accepted grudgingly.

"Kukai isn't my friend yet. He's a club mate."

"Isn't that the same thing?" I shook my head.

"Just because I'm forced to spend time with you all doesn't mean that I particularly like any of you."

"Aki-chan's brutal," Miki informed the black haired girl. "It takes her a long time to warm up to people." Nadeshiko looked surprised.

"You have friends other than us?" My eye twitched in irritation. "Sorry, sorry, that came out wrong."

"Kiki has friends," Shiori interjected happily. "Only four her own age but she still has friends."

"Heh? That's surprising." Tadase noted, taking a bite of the food. I was going to comment something but bit my tongue to stop from starting a fight. I knew they didn't mean it the way it sounded. "Amazing! You made all of this, Fujisaki-san?" Nadeshiko looked pleased at the compliment.

"Yeah, that's right. Please have as much as you'd like." She winked at me. "You too, Aki-chan!" She offered me a pair of chopsticks.

"When did you- no, _how_ did you even carry this much food to the-" She shoved a piece of sausage in my mouth, cutting me off. I made a noise of surprise and swallowed.

"That _is_ good," I admitted, giving her a small smile. She smiled back happily in return. Damn, I really was getting attached to anime characters.

"Caramel!" Yaya squealed.

"Shiori," I dragged out her name. The blue eyed girl grinned.

"What? She likes candy."

"Yaya, eat your food before your dessert, that's not healthy," I scolded, gently taking the caramel away from her. "You should make sure to eat fruit and vegetables more. All I ever see you have for lunch is sweets." Shiori snickered, finding my mother hen behaviour funny.

"Big sister Kiki comes to the resc _-ack!"_ I swatted Shiori and leaned back, ignoring her cries of betrayal. Tadase and Nadeshiko watched us in interest. "Spare me, almighty Kiki! I have so much to live for! I have children!" I snorted, earning the chuckles of the Guardians.

"Yeah, you have a child's mind."

"So _cruel_ to your best friend- Ah, they're starting." I glanced over to see Kukai waving at us as he walked past, prompting the others to wave back. A gaggle of preteens thundered toward us, completely out of breath.

 **"Kukai-sama~!"** The girls cheered exhaustedly, dashing to wherever Kukai was looking. When he moved his gaze, they darted over to where he was, constantly cheering for him.

 _"Fight! Fight!"_ Yaya shouted, Tadase and Nadeshiko joining in.

 _"Sohma-kun!"_

 _"Hey you!"_ Nadeshiko shrieked angrily, the flowers on her hair tie changing. _"Don't act like you're still in bed! Go full power from the start!"_

"If he goes full power from the start, he's gonna get tired halfway through," I muttered, incurring her wrath.

 _"FULL POWER!_ " She insisted.

"Okay, okay!" _Jeez._

XXX

They were losing badly and some of the players weren't taking it very well. I watched Yamada slip away from the bench and walk past the crowd, into the forest. Tadase pried his gaze away from the game and onto me as I stood up, knowing what I had to do. I had to follow the original plot line otherwise the world would make it even worse - like Nadeshiko trying to push me onto Tadase, or having to protect Tadase, or… That kid seemed to be the source of all my problems, really.

"What's wrong, Hinamori-san?"

"Nothing important," I dismissed casually. "I'm going to the bathroom, so I'll be back in a bit." I lied, walking calmly towards the path I'd seem Yamada take. Tadase clearly didn't believe me but left me alone, whispering something to Nadeshiko.

After I reached the top of the hill, I broke into a run to reach the forest, pausing as I heard someone call out my name.

"Oh, Himamori-san," Nikaido purred, giving me an innocent smile. "What's the rush? You should stay and watch the game." I narrowed my eyes on him.

"Listen, Nikaido- _sensei_ ," I put air quotation marks around his title. "I know who you work for and I'm not dealing with your crap right now." His eyebrows raised in surprise and his facade lifted for a moment. I didn't bother to stay and watch. I spun on my heel and started jogging into the woods but stopped after a few steps. "Oh, and one more thing-" I kept my back to him but made my voice carry across the wind. _"-Touch Tadase and you're_ ** _dead_** _."_

XXX

"Oi, oi, Ali-chan," A boy with dark brown hair poked Hinamori Ali's cheek, startling her out of her thoughts. "Have you heard the rumours? They say your sister is plotting to take over the entire district." Ali leaned her head against her desk frustratedly.

"For the last time, Tomoda-kun, my sister isn't a raging warrior, she's just a martial artist." The boy named Tomoda grinned at her.

"Then what about that incident last year when she took down an entire class because she was in a rotten mood? I heard that at least fifteen people had to go to the ICU!

"It was ten girls who attacked her and Shiori," Ali corrected slowly, starting to snap. "And my sister only attacked them after they hurt her friend." _A couple did have to go to the hospital, but I'm not telling him that._ "Anyway, my sister took most of the blame. She actually can't even do her martial art classes because her ankle is still damaged." _Well, it would be if we didn't have the magical HP healing process._ Tomoda held his hands up in surrender.

"Alright, alright," He grinned at her cheerfully. "I'll trust you. Hey, do you think I could meet her someday?"

"Hah. She'd kick your butt if she heard some of the things you said."

"Perfect. I love strong girls."

"And she'd _definitely_ be weirded out by you." Tomoda gasped at her in mock offence.

"Me?" He pointed at himself dramatically. "No way. Everyone _loves_ me."

"Uh huh," Ali rolled her eyes at her classmate. "Tell that to the four popular kids who want your head."

XXX

"Hey, Yamada!" I called loudly, running around the forest. The goddamned map wasn't very useful if I couldn't locate someone I wasn't close to. _"YAMADA!"_

"Aki, this way!" Ran soared ahead, leading me to an open area that I recognized. _The gazebo?_ Sure enough, Yamada sat on the bench in the cement gazebo, staring down at the grey stone. He was murmuring something under his breath that I couldn't hear.

"Yamada?" He didn't acknowledge me but lifted his head slightly as I approached cautiously. "You okay, dude?" He let out a bitter laugh.

"Kukai is definitely the best," His face wrinkled in disgust. "Someone like me can't even compare to him."

"He's acting strange," Ran commented, clearly unnerved. Su floated behind me nervously.

"He is."

"I've got a bad feeling about this," Miki fiddled with her hat restlessly. I kneeled down where he was looking and placed a hand on his knee.

"Hey, Yamada, listen to me." His eyes widened in shock.

"Kukai missed the shot…? And the ball was stolen." Yamada whispered hauntedly. I bit my lip in frustration as he lifted his head. How was I supposed to comfort him? I couldn't even make my brother feel better after a failed test. "It doesn't matter. It has nothing to do with me…" He growled lowly. "It doesn't matter!"

 _SMACK!_

My hand stung as I pulled it back, internally feeling horrible when I saw the red mark on his cheek. I'd slapped - but on the fleshy part so that it wouldn't massively hurt him. Yamada gaped at me in a daze.

"Enough," I snapped, glowering at him. "Stop getting all whiny just because someone's a little better than you. So what if someone's a genius? If they put in no effort, a genius won't be any better than a beginner," I scolded, hoping that my words were sinking in. "Saying that it doesn't matter because you're not playing is a lie. I saw you practising by the river late last night and judging by the dents on that wall, you've been doing it for a long time."

"But-"

"Ah, ah! Don't you "but" me!" I cut Yamada off, not letting him get a chance to speak. "Stop being so hard on yourself and you'll see a better side to you." For the first time, Yamada looked at me, his expression telling me that he desperately wanted to believe in me.

"I-" He stopped mid sentence, sucking in a gasp, purple light coming out of his body.

"Damn!" I cursed, getting up from my crouch and jumping back. I thought I was getting through to him but Nikaido must've interfered, the ass. A purple egg floated above his head, cracking to reveal an X-character.

 **[English Detected]**

 _"Kick!"_ It shrieked delightedly. _"Dribble, dribble, shoot!"_ It made a 'come here' gesture as Yamada fell on the bench. _"Pass, pass, pass, pass~!"_

"Urgh," I groaned, recognizing the chara. _Why do they all somehow know English?_ It was the super accurate kicker. _Actually, what happens if you get hit by the negative energy? They never really covered it in the anime or manga…_ A part of me was tempted to let myself get hit, but I knew that it wouldn't be good, whatever it was.

 _"Hat trick!"_ It giggled, a glowing purple ball kicked at us at high speeds.

"Look out!" Ran squealed, going every which way to avoid them. I shifted slightly to either side to avoid using up my energy. It only seemed to piss off the x-chara even more, shooting two or three negative balls of energy at a time.

"Hinamori-san!" I spared a glance to my left to see the Guardians - minus Kukai- dashing towards me. _Where's Shiori? Did she stay behind?_

"Stay back!" I ordered, keeping one eye on them and the other on the chara. It snickered again and shot a volley of balls over at the Guardians.

 _"This match doesn't matter,"_ Yamada's voice echoed clearly through the field. _"No matter how hard I try, it means nothing since I won't get to play."_ I grit my teeth in irritation.

"Dumbass," I hissed, startling the X-chara and most likely the Guardians too, judging by their gasps. "Do I have to slap you again?!"

"Aki!" Ran called, looking at me seriously. I nodded and placed my hands around the lock dangling from my neck.

"My heart, unlock!" The air hummed with energy, the ribbons that I was getting used to wrapped around me, enveloping the area in a bright, warm light. I reached out a hand for Ran's egg, pulling it close as it disappeared into my chest. The ribbons popped out of existence, leaving me once again with a bright pink cheerleader outfit. _"Character Transformation! Amulet Heart!"_

"Go, Aki-chan!" Yaya cheered from the side. I flashed her a quick smile, turning my attention back to Yamada's chara. I pointed an accusing finger at him.

"You say it doesn't matter if you lose since you don't get to play?" I repeated his words from earlier. "Then why did you practise so hard? Why were you so upset earlier? Why did you look so depressed just now?" I pressed. "You helped me when I was playing against Kukai and you were awesome! Copacetic! You even do extra work and try hard off of the field!"

"You're lying!" Yamada's voice started picking up in volume, turning into enraged shouting. "Even you think I have no talent!" The x-chara fed off of his anger and shot twice as many balls as before, prompting me to jump up into the air.

 _"Yellow card!"_ It shrieked when it was me, continuing its attack.

"Who gives a crap about talent?" I scoffed, ducking out of the way of a few negative energy balls. "Talent won't get you anywhere if you don't put in the work! Besides, those who have that so called "talent" trained to get where they are today, just like you! Don't X yourself out like that!" I felt something powerful tug at my hands. I let the feeling lead me through a series of hand motions, two pink puffballs appearing in my palms. "…Pompoms…?"

 _"Red card!"_ I whacked the last of the shots out of the air, creating a blanket of sparkles that floated down to the air.

"You're pretty cool, man! Don't let your pessimistic side take you out like that! Look at all that you've accomplished before you start degrading yourself!" That finally seemed to get through to him and I grinned, feeling pretty smug about myself. I placed my hands around the locket again as it started to glow.

 **[English Selected]**

 _"Negative heart, lock on!"_ I focused in on Yamada, aiming the light at him as it powered up. _"Open heart!"_ The x-chara screamed, the X on its head cracking into pieces as the colour returned.

"Obrigado, Aki-chan!" A small boy wearing a brazil team shirt and a soccer ball grinned at me.

 **[Japanese Selected]**

"No problem!" I gave him a thumbs up. "You stay good now, 'kay?" He gave me a salute as the egg closed in on him.

"Yeah! Ciao!" It beelined right back into Yamada. I jogged over, ignoring the Guardians, and checked on his body. It was interesting how they collapsed as soon as their heart's eggs left them. I'd have to watch for that kind of thing, especially if they were near the water. _I wouldn't want to accidentally drown someone because their chara left their body. Or would they still survive? I'm not quite sure how all of that works._

"Huh? Hinamori-san?" While I'd been thinking, Yamada had sat up and was staring at me in bafflement. _Whoops._

"C'mon, you gotta hurry!" I grabbed one of his hands and pulled him up, starting to drag him away. "You need to substitute for the game!"

"Substitute? Why? What've I been doing?"

"Dude, _come on!"_

"Uwah! I'm coming, I'm coming!"

XXX

"Aki-chan, you didn't really slap him, right?"

"…"

 _"You did?!"_

"He wouldn't snap out of it, okay?! Don't judge me!"

"…I can't believe you slapped him."

"Shush!"

 **[Quest Complete! Rewards: +15 EXP, +7 Friendship with Guardians,** ** _+1 Companion]_**

XXX

*Aki doesn't like bananas very much.

 **[A/n]: I'm going to touch up a few of the other chapters - especially the beginning - to make them more… I don't know, flowy?**

 **[Yaya]: Thanks for reading!**

 **[Aki]: All reviews are appreciated!**


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